


To Catch a Star

by islandellis



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Carl is a dick but not a pedophile bc im not comfortable writing that, Child Abuse, Eventual Romance, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Homophobia, I don't like Kevin dw he won't be here forever, Internalized Homophobia, Lesbian Emily Prentiss, Morgans a gay football player, Romance, School Dance, Slow Burn, Smoking, Underage Drinking, Underage Smoking, but its okay because his friends are there for him, hotch's dad sucks, rossi is a tough Italian guy, she's also kind of emo, they aren't all friends yet but they will be!, tw abuse, u can skip it tho
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-09
Updated: 2020-12-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:01:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 24,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25796314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/islandellis/pseuds/islandellis
Summary: what we know as the BAU is just a group of high schoolers now. they don't know it yet, but they all end up being exactly what each other needs. how were they all in the same school for so long and never noticed the people that would forever change their lives?
Relationships: Aaron Hotchner/Haley Hotchner, Derek Morgan/Spencer Reid, Jennifer "JJ" Jareau/Emily Prentiss, Penelope Garcia/Kevin Lynch
Comments: 59
Kudos: 155





	1. that's the spirit

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! thank you for reading! feel free to check out my tumblr: prentizz  
> in this fic they are all at least 16. I changed Spencer's background a bit because I plan to write romance for him and I'm not comfortable writing it for someone younger than that. to those who hate haley, sorry but I made her nice here! I want hotch to be happy so she isn't gonna be mean lol. anyways, enjoy! :)

“Emily, if you plan to pick up your friends on the way to school you’ll have to leave soon.”

The voice, waking her up, made the brunette’s eyes flutter open. “Mother, you probably could’ve told me that about 10 minutes ago,” she stood up and made her way across the room, towards her bureau, “Now let me get dressed,” and gestured towards the hall. 

The older woman huffed out a sigh before turning out of the room and clicking the door shut. As Emily fumbled through her bottom drawer for a pair of jeans, she shot a glance at her alarm clock, reading 7:43 AM. “Shit,” she whispered to herself as she quickly pulled on a pair of ripped black jeans and a “Green Day” t-shirt. Grabbing her bag as she went downstairs, Emily made brief eye-contact with her Mother in the kitchen before heading out the door. She always preferred to skip the formalities on her way out, and running late today gave her an excuse not to discuss anything. 

After tossing her bag into the back, Emily buckled herself into the driver’s seat and pulled out of the gated driveway. Speeding down the roads to Penelope’s house, she cursed her mother for choosing a house so far away from the school and her friends.

Considering a second bowl of lucky charms, Penelope checked her bedazzled pink phone, wondering how much longer Emily would be. As she weaved around her step-brothers towards the box, she stopped at the sound of a car pulling up, blasting music _. “ _ Come as you are”, she noted, before waving goodbye to her family, “Emily’s here, see you guys!”

At the sound of the passenger side door opening, Emily turned down the music. “Hey, sorry I’m late. I slept in and Mother didn’t seem to be in any sort of rush to wake me.”

“Don’t worry about it, I don’t mind. Derek might, though. Let’s go.”

Emily nodded and sped off a second time. She reached for the volume dial before being grabbed by the wrist.

“Ok, no. You know I love you and your emo-y goth-y music, but it is the first day of school. And I need to listen to happier music to keep up my happy vibes. Now give me your phone.”

Emily sighed but didn’t put up any sort of fight; she knew Penelope would get her way in the end (and not that it’s anyone’s business, but Emily did kind of like the other girl’s music). 

As some Britney Spears song began to play, Penelope smirked at her friend, “Let’s get this show on the road.” 

They shared a laugh before the blonde started to sing her heart out. Emily might’ve hummed along, though she’d never admit it. She drove down the familiar streets, faster than she should have, and made it to Derek’s before the end of “Womanizer”. 

“Well, it’s about damn time you two got here. I was considering walking to school at this point,” he slipped into the backseat, “What was the holdup?”

“Blame Emily for that.”

“Hey! If you’d prefer, you can walk.”

Derek put his hands up in defeat, “Okay, you win,” he chuckled, “Baby girl, you’re giving off some nice 2000’s vibes with that outfit.”

Emily turned to acknowledge her friend’s matching pink skirt and top.

“Thank you, my love,” Penelope smiled, briefly putting a hand to her heart.

“Emily, better luck next time.”

She furrowed her eyebrows, “Derek, this is how I always dress.”

“That’s the point.”

She shot him a glance in the mirror, “Oh, says the guy who wears the same jeans and t-shirt every single day.”

He opened his mouth as if to say something but was cut off by Penelope’s voice.

“Both of you shut up! This is my song.”

“Penelope, you say every song is your song,” Derek rolled his eyes.

She glared at him, tilting her head, “I remember asking you to shut up,” and turned up the music.

Emily shook her head and laughed at the other two as she continued to drive. 

Derek and Penelope started to sing together, “Fergalicious definition make them boys go loco…”

The brunette quickly noticed something: Derek’s apparent passion for Fergalicious. Now, to anyone else, this might seem strange. Looking at the 6 foot, muscular football player singing along to the song without missing a single beat, some people might need a double-take. Emily knows him better than that. The one thing that separates him from any other stereotypical straight guy is that he knows all the words to almost any given ‘girly’ song. 

Well, maybe there are  _ two  _ things to separate him from those guys.

Only Emily officially knows, they connected on it after a late night of talking. He could never fully fit in with those stereotypical straight guys for one undeniable reason: he’s not straight. Technically he never told Penelope, it just became something understood between the two of them. At some point, they started talking about cute guys together like it was common knowledge that he was gay. And he’s grateful that she accepted it without a formal ‘coming out’. He’s never been good at that. 

“Guys, we’re here. And seeing as it’s 7:55, I don’t think we have time for more performances today.”

“Oh my god, I only have 5 minutes to decorate my locker. See you guys,” Penelope waved to her friends quickly before grabbing her bag and rushing out of the car.

“She does realize she’s one of the only people who decorates the inside of their locker, right? It’s not like anybody’s ever gonna see it.”

Emily let out a quick laugh, “If you wanna be the one to tell her that, be my guest.”

“You know what? I think I’ll be okay,” he says, and grabs his bag, leaving the car.

They walk in silence for a moment before she adds, “Very impressive singing back there, by the way,” and pokes him in the side. 

Derek swats her hand away, “You know, that reminds me. Are you ever gonna tell her about  _ you know what _ ?” he says, raising his eyebrows, “Don’t feel pressured to. But I know you’re carrying a lot of weight with that secret and it might help to be open to your best friend.”

She shrugs

“Em, you know she’ll accept you too, right?”

“I don’t know, it’s different. We’re both girls.”

“Now don’t say that. We both know she’s straight and doesn’t give a damn if you aren’t. And she’s not the kind of person to think you have a crush on her just cause you’re a lesbian.”

“Yeah, you’re right. And it’d be nice to talk about who I  _ actually  _ think is cute around her instead of pretending it’s some dude.”

He smiled, “That’s the spirit. This one’s mine, I’ll see you later, Em,” he gave a quick wave before turning towards his locker and fumbling with the lock. 

“See ya, Derek,” she waved back and continued down the hall.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Spencer!” JJ yelled, running down the sidewalk. When she finally caught up, she nearly tackled him, grabbing him by the shoulders to prevent him from going past the curb. “Geez, dude. Look where you’re going!”

He furrowed his eyebrows and frowned at her, confused for a second until an SUV sped past them, blasting music. “Oh.”

“Maybe you should stick to either just walking or just reading,” she laughed, “I don’t think you’re the best at multitasking.”

“Only 2% of the population is genetically supposed to produce better work when multitasking, so given the Earth’s population of 7.594 billion, chances are-”

“Forget I said anything,” she pats him on the shoulder, “Taking any exciting classes this semester?”

“I’ve already read the course material for this year, so not really. I am, actually, pleased to hear that we have a few new people interested in chess club. It’ll be nice to have some fresh players,” he smiled at her, “What about you? Anything new?”

“Yeah, actually. I’m in honors French this year, and I’ve wanted to move up for a while. I’d just love to speak another language.”

“Oh, congratulations!”

“Thanks, Spence,” she smiled at him, “Oh, it’s Haley!”

He followed her line of sight to the other blonde girl jogging over to them off the bus.

“Hey, guys!”

“Hey!” JJ pulled her in for a quick hug while Spencer opted for a quick wave. 

“So, Spencer, how’s it feel to be a senior? Running up there with the big dogs?”

“Pretty much the same, to be honest. I mean, I’ve been in their grade since freshman year. I think they’re pretty much used to having me there.”

Haley looked up at him, “Now that I’ve said it, you’re kinda starting to look like one of them. How tall are you now?”

“I grew 2.8 inches since you last saw me, actually.”

JJ looked at him for a second before adding, “Which makes you about what? 5’10?”

“Rounding down, yes.”

Haley laughed, “Well, congratulations on finally looking your age. Maybe in two years once you’re the age of a normal senior, you won’t be so bony.”

“It’s not like I get to choose how many bones I have!”

“Spence, I don’t think that’s what she meant,” the other girl smiled at him. 

He looked confused for a second before checking his watch, “Well, we have 4 minutes before we have to be in our homerooms. So, we should all probably go to our lockers now so we have enough time to drop some of our things off first.”

The girls agreed, and all each gave a quick goodbye to the other two before heading off towards their locker. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Aaron quietly made his way out of bed and yawned as he walked to the bathroom. He rubbed his eyes as an attempt to make himself wake up and started to brush his teeth. When he got back to his room, he grabbed a random pair of jeans and one of his baseball shirts. Barely glancing at his hair in the mirror, he ran a hand through it in an attempt to ‘brush it’ before it fell back into its middle part. 

He tip-toed past his brother’s room; Sean was only two years old and Aaron didn’t want to be the one to disturb his much-needed sleep. After getting downstairs he ate a banana and grabbed a banana before heading out the door. His mother is always telling him that he needs to eat a real breakfast, but Aaron doesn’t like to risk being late to school, nor does he usually feel very hungry in the mornings, anyway.

He put the protein bar in the front pouch of his backpack before swinging it around his shoulders and hopping on the bike. Aaron enjoyed the familiar morning breeze and the sun passing over the horizon, one of his favorite pleasures of life. Though it’s often annoying he lives too far from school to walk, he’d always choose his bike over the bus, if not only to watch the night become day. 

Once he stopped at the bike rack, the sun had almost fully risen. After locking it onto the rack, he turned towards the school before running into a familiar face.

“How’s it going, Hotch?”

Just like that, he went from Aaron to  _ Hotch _ . He much preferred the latter. Only his family called him Aaron. He doesn’t mind when his brother and mom say it; it’s his father that turned his own name into something he resents. 

“Hey, Dave,” he smiles lightly. 

“You know, the offer still stands for me to drive you. It’s on the way, I don’t mind,” he nods back towards his convertible in the parking lot.

Hotch shook his head, “Don’t worry about it. I’ve been biking since 9th grade, I’m not gonna stop now. But thanks.”

“Okay, well if you change your mind let me know. After all, I won't be here next year to offer. Who knows what you’re gonna do without me.”

The taller boy laughed, “I think I’ll survive. I might even celebrate my first day without you pinned to my side.”

“Hey, I’m the senior here.  _ You  _ are pinned to  _ my  _ side. And don’t forget it.”

“Yeah, right. Maybe you’re a year older but I’m still taller than you,” he smirked. 

“Oh, about that. Can you start slouching near me? It’s hard to look as tough as usual when I’m always 3 inches below you.”

“I’ll think about it,” Hotch laughed, “I’m gonna head to my locker. See you later, Dave.”

“See ya, Hotch.”

  
  



	2. you're a real one

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> our BAU teens finish their first day of the school year

Spencer was a man on a mission. His goal? To get in and out of the cafeteria quickly to make his 30 minute lunch period as useful as possible. He weaved between the hundreds of other students, speaking a quick “excuse me” or “sorry” as he went. If it were up to him, he probably would just go straight to the library, since he wasn’t that hungry anyway. But he knew that if JJ and Haley found out he skipped lunch they’d start to smother him faster than he could spit out a statistic. So he opted for some chicken tenders to please his friends. 

Normally he’d sit with them to catch up on the summer, but this year was different. Despite having already been offered a scholarship to Caltech, he wants to take advantage of his highschool opportunities. And it being his senior year, he really wants to make it count. He knows that once he gets to college it’s going to be much harder to take care of his mom, which is the main reason he only skipped two grades. Instead of graduating at 12, he decided to wait until he was 16 so he could live with his mom for a few more years. Now that he’s done it, he’s sure that it was the right decision. Not only did it make his mom happy, but he loves spending time with her, and he wouldn’t want to miss out on it. The other reason he waited was because he knew that it would benefit his social intelligence to get a more standard highschool experience. Because although he’d like to believe differently, he knows that’s something you cannot learn through a book. 

After paying and wading through the sea of teenagers for a second time, he finally made it into the quiet and clear hallway to the library. Normally it was as loaded with kids as the cafeteria, but since it was 5 minutes into the period, he didn’t have to worry about the crowds. This simple convenience shaved about a minute off his walking time, which in the grand scheme of things didn’t make much of a difference, but at the moment made him grateful. He’d found two particularly interesting books on psychology that he wanted to start this period, and for Spencer, an extra minute of reading is a lot of time. Once he got close to the library, he pulled out his phone and shot a quick text to Haley and JJ, letting them know that he’d be eating in there instead of with them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

JJ slipped her phone back into her pocket, “Ugh, did you see Spencer’s text?” 

“No, what’s it say?”

“He’s not coming to lunch today, he’s going to the library.”

Haley sighed, “Damn. Well, that’s alright. We can all catch up this weekend.”

“Oh, about that. I actually can stay the night since my practice was moved to Sunday,” JJ smiled, grabbing a bag of cheetos from the rack of chips. 

“Ooh perfect. Are your parents even gonna let you go to practice, though? Or is it after church?”

“I think it’ll be fine. I mean if it were up to me I wouldn’t be going to church in the first place, but if it keeps my parents happy-”

“-Then you’re happy, I know,” Haley cut her friend off, completing the mantra JJ seemed to live by. 

The other girl rolled her eyes before paying for her food, and her friend did the same. JJ let the two of them over to a small, empty table. 

“How come we’re not sitting with the girls from the soccer team? Did something happen?”

JJ paused for a second, considering how she wanted to answer the question. To be quite honest, even she didn’t know why. All throughout middle school, they sat with the other girls. Last year, if Spencer was in the library, they sat with the girls. But more and more JJ started to notice some problems with them. Most recently, it was a conversation at practice:

_ “Guys,” one of JJ’s teammates, Sage, whispered to a group of a few players, “Did you hear the rumor about Olivia?” _

_ “No, what’s going on?” another girl answered. _

_ “Apparently she’s a lesbian!” _

_ “Really? No way.” _

_ “Yeah. One of you should ask her, just to see.” _

_ “Gross! I don’t want to talk to her? What if it’s true?” _

_ JJ furrowed her eyebrows, breaking her silence at this comment, “Why does it matter if it’s true?” _

_ “Dude? She probably has a crush on one of us or something. And if we talk to her she could try and hit on us.” _

_ The blonde turned to look at the girl in question, pity radiating from her eyes. Too scared to try defending Olivia, she opted for a joke, “Come on, do you really think she’d have a crush on you when you can’t even shoot with your left foot?” _

_ “Hey! I can! I just choose not to.” _

_ The girls all started laughing before being called back over by their coach. JJ couldn’t help but feel guilty for standing by and letting them talk about their teammate in such a homophobic manner. But on the other hand, she wondered why her heart twinged at the discussion of a lesbian. Instead of addressing that, she focused her mind on practice, too scared of analyzing her own sexuality and revealing something she might not be entirely ready to accept.  _

All of a sudden, JJ was snapped back to reality by Haley repeating her question, “Jayje? Did something happen with the girls?”

“No, everything’s fine. I just thought it’d be nice for us to have our own table. Especially since you don’t even play soccer anymore,” She brushed it off quickly, scared of what response she could get to that story.

“Okay, if you say so,” Haley replied, concern still lacing her eyebrows. 

Desperately wanting to change the subject, JJ asked, “Have you found out what show you guys are doing for the fall play yet?”

“Yeah, we have! It’s called the Pirates of Penzance. We’re having a meeting after school today for signups and info on it.”

“Ooh, nice.”

The two girls carried on their conversation normally after that, with JJ trying to ignore the thoughts plaguing her mind. She couldn’t help but wonder whether or not Olivia really  _ was  _ a lesbian. What bothered her more, though, was why she even cared in the first place. It didn’t matter to her if anyone else was a lesbian, because she wasn’t.

_ Right? _

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Okay, guys,” Penelope put her hands up for dramatic effect, “I have the best idea for Emily and I’s outfits for the homecoming game.”

“Why do I feel like I’m gonna hate this idea?”

“Oh, my love,” she took Emily’s hand, “it’s because you will. So-”

The brunette’s eyes pleaded with Derek’s for him to do anything,  _ anything  _ to get her out of whatever extravagant idea their friend was currently cooking up.

He decided to help her out, just this once, “Wait, Pen. I have something even more important that Emily might be a bit more invested in.”

“What’s that, sweet cheeks?”

“Homecoming  _ dates _ .”

“Oh, you read my mind. Now, I know we could do that cute little friend group thing like we did last year, but I’m gonna be honest: it’s our junior year. And I want to get some  _ real  _ action on the dance floor. Not just watching you two dance, although I love that.”

Emily narrowed her eyes, “You wouldn’t happen to have anyone in mind, would you?”

“You know I do. Now how should I let him know I want him to ask me?”

“Hold on a second, are we still talking about Kevin Lynch? Penny, sweetheart, you’ve gotta know by now that he’s liked you since freshman year. If you drop him a line, he’ll be in the palm of your hand,” Derek offered. 

“Fine, then let me rephrase: How do I get him to ask me in an amazing and personal way that doesn’t come on too strong?”

“Now that I’m not so sure about,” he laughed.

“Well,” Emily started, “You could talk to him and push him in the right direction. Derek, isn’t he in your English class?”

“Hold on, why do I have to be the one to do it?”

“I don’t know, you’re both guys, and like I said, he is in your English class.”

“Oh my god, Emily, that's perfect. And then it can happen just the way I like it but it can still be somewhat a surprise. You’re a genius,” Penelope smiled at the other girl.

“Do I get a say in this?”

“Technically, yeah, but would you rather listen to Pen complain about him not asking her yet or listen to her gush about him?”

“Point taken. I’ll talk to him about it later this week. But only because I love you.”

“Thank you, my love,” she smiled at him and planted a quick kiss on his hand, “What about you two? Who are you gonna go with?”

They each turned to the other and shrugged before speaking at the same time, “Eachother.”

“Yeah, I figured,” the blonde laughed. 

Emily made eye contact with a certain dark-haired senior from across the room, and started to stand up, “I’ll be right back, guys.” Walking towards him, he raised his eyebrows at her as a sort of ‘hello’.

“Emily, to what do I owe this pleasure?”

“How’s it going, Dave?” she flashed a quick smile at him.

“I can’t complain. You?”

Practically beaming, she said, “Better since I found out my mom won’t be home tonight.”

“Oh? Is that your way of inviting me over?”

“Yup. Only if you have smokes, though.”

He tapped a pack in his coat pocket, “I do. Got em from my cousin. It’s ridiculous. Right after I turn 18 they change so you have to be 21 to buy them. It’s like God is out to get me.”

“I’m sure he is. I’ll see you later. You’re a real one, Dave. Bye, Hotch,” she waved at the boys.

“Dave, remind me why you haven’t tried to ask her out yet?”

“I don’t know, I get a feeling I’m not her type.”

“Hm. If you say so. I don’t know her all that well,” Hotch added before turning back to his food. 

The boys carried on with their normal conversation after that, relishing their short break from the stresses of school. Eventually, Hotch and Dave parted ways, heading to their lockers before the next class started. Hotch grabbed his books for the next period and started to head down the hallway before being stopped by a familiar face.

“Hey, Hotch.”

“Hey.”

“Are you going to the preseason baseball meeting later today? Coach wants to talk about staying in shape in our offseason.”

“Yeah, I’ll be there.”

“Alright, cool. See you then.”

“See ya, Jake.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hotch was practically sprinting through the hallways trying to make it to the meeting on time. He knew Coach wouldn’t hold it against him if he was late, but he didn’t like to disappoint people. So there he was, backpack rocking left and right with each stride. Finally making it to the room, he all but threw the door open and found a seat without thinking. Too focused on catching his breath, it took him about a minute to realize he’d gone into the wrong room. He did a quick glance at the people around him and deduced that this was definitely not a meeting for baseball. So he threw his bag around his shoulders again and rushed for the door a second time without looking up, before being stopped by a girl with a clipboard.

“Hey, are you interested in trying out for this year's play?” she turned the clipboard towards him, holding out a pen.

“No, sorry, I’m in the wrong-” he met the girl’s eyes for the first time and any words he could come up with fell out of his head. She had the most beautiful, genuine smile he’d ever seen, and she was giving it to a complete stranger, which made it even more endearing to him. He was completely melting under her soft gaze, and he couldn’t tell if he was hallucinating it or not when she looked him up and down in a way that felt like she was checking him out. He wasn’t interested in doing the play whatsoever. He’d never tried acting, and he doubted he’d be good at it. But he couldn’t find it in himself to say no to this girl. He didn’t know why. They’d only just met, and he hadn’t even spoken a full sentence to her yet. But he knew, god he knew, she was the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen in his entire life. So he’d be a fool to let her pass him by. Letting her fully take over his mind, replacing any remaining thoughts of that baseball meeting, he took the pen from her hand. 

“Yeah, I’ll try out,” and he signed his name on the list. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again for reading! check out my Tumblr @prentizz for updates etc. I hope you enjoyed!


	3. sunsets or sunrises?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A couple more homecoming dates are established in our group! and we get to see some great Emily & Rossi bonding moments. I love writing cute Haley and Hotch stuff, so we got a bit of that as well :)

“Well it’s about time,” Emily said, opening the door for Dave, “for a minute there I thought you might not show.”

“Sorry, my dad insisted I tell him all about my first day of senior year,” he apologized, walking inside.

“At least you didn’t come home to an empty house.” 

“Are you saying you wish your mom was here? That’s a first,” Dave laughed. 

“Touché. I do enjoy my empty house.” 

“That’s more like it,” he paused for a second before continuing, “so, I provided our cigarettes. What do you have?” 

“Uh… an empty house, myself, and a lighter,” the junior smiled. 

“I have a lighter too and you know that. But I’ll make do with the rest. You’re lucky I like you,” he narrowed his eyes at her and she laughed.

The pair walked up her stairs, into her bedroom, and out the window onto the roof. They both preferred smoking out there rather than on her deck since nobody could smell the smoke up there, and they could put out their cigarettes directly on the shingles. Also, it provided a nice view of the quickly darkening sky. Dave took the pack out of his pocket and pulled out a cigarette for each of them. They lit them with their respective lighters and fell back into their conversation.

“So, where’s your mom anyways?” he asked, exhaling smoke as he talked. 

“I don’t know, she texted me at like 11 saying she has a meeting and she won’t be back until sometime tomorrow. I didn’t ask where she was.” 

“I wish my parents would leave randomly for a few days instead of always being on my ass.” 

“Oh, believe me, she still finds a way to be on mine. Everytime I speak to her she’s pissed about something new,” she responded, making Dave laugh, “speaking of pissing my mother off, you can stay the night if you want. It’s not like she’ll know.” 

“Yeah, I might. I’ll just tell my dad I’m at one of the boys’ houses.” 

“Great,” she smiled, and took another drag of her cigarette. 

They smoked in each other’s company for a minute before he piped up, “So about my homecoming party.”

“What about it?”

“Anyone in particular you want me to invite? My whole table’s coming, and I told a bunch of other groups about it.”

“I’m guessing you’ve already invited the football team, but Derek’s my ‘date’, so definitely invite him and obviously Penelope too.”

“Okay, cool. Who’s she going with?”

“He hasn’t asked her yet but it should end up being Kevin Lynch, if you know him?”

“I think I’ve heard the name. You’ll let them know the details?”

“Yeah, no problem,” she pulled her phone out, sending a text to her two friends, “so, man-whore. Who’re you going with this year?” 

He rolled his eyes, “Very funny. I’m not sure yet. Being a man-whore, I have a few options.”

Emily laughed, “You could go with Erin again,” she said, wiggling her eyebrows.

“Oh, god don’t even say her name,” Dave rubbed his eyes.

“Erin and David sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-” she was cut off by him blowing smoke into her face, “okay, okay! I’m done,” the girl laughed. 

“Don’t say her name and  _ definitely  _ don’t say we’re kissing,” he made a disgusted face. 

“Geez, I didn’t realize she was that bad.” 

“Laugh it up, you’re lucky you weren’t the one kissing her. I don’t even wanna think about it. I doubt she owns a toothbrush.”

“Hm. Gross. Well you could ask Hayden, didn’t you go with her last year?”

“I did. And I probably will again. She’s cute. We get along pretty well,” he shrugged. 

They smoked and talked for another 45 minutes or so before heading back inside. 

“So, you’re staying the night?”

“Yeah, I just texted my dad.”

“Perfect. You wanna watch a movie?”

“Sure, have anything in mind?” he asked, plopping himself down on her couch.

“Hmm. Scary or funny?”

Dave thought for a second before answering, “Funny. I don’t need you clinging onto me because you’re scared.”

“Do you not remember jumping out of your seat when we saw ‘Annabelle’?” she laughed, “it’s not me you have to worry about.”

“Hey, dolls are an exception. They freak me out.”

“Whatever. Is ‘Scary Movie’ good?”

“Yeah I love that one.”

“Alright, then it’s settled,” she smiled, taking the DVD out of its box and slipping it into the player. Emily then walked over to the couch and sat next to Dave, pulling a blanket over her legs. 

He put his arm around her as the movie began to play, “Hey, you wanna know something funny that happened at lunch after you came by?”

“What’s that?”

“Hotch asked why I haven’t asked you out yet,” he laughed.

She joined in on his laughter before asking, “And what’d you say?”

“That ‘I get a feeling I’m not your type’.”

“Well, you’re not wrong. Thanks for not telling him, though.”

“No problem. Outing you wouldn’t make me a very good friend, would it?”

“Definitely not. But thanks, still. It would’ve been funny if you said we were dating though,” she laughed.

“Yeah, funny until I can’t get any dates cause I’m ‘taken’.”

“Oh, right. How dare I mess up the man-whore’s hookup schedule.”

“Will you stop calling me a man-whore?” he laughed.

“I’ll think about it.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The days began to fade together, each one a repetition of the last, the only change being the darkening leaves. Every day, Hotch went to class, lunch, back to class, theatre, and home again. There was only one thing keeping him interested in his daily routine: Haley, from theatre. By the end of the first meeting he  accidentally went to, he heard the name that matched the stunning girl’s face. As soon as practices started, he began wearing hair gel, cologne, and ironed his clothes. Anything to make him more attractive to the beautiful girl he met. Logically, Hotch knew doing these things wouldn’t make Haley like him, but he figured putting some more effort in could help him stand out. And a girl who looks like that _ definitely _ has options lined up. 

The day’s practice went by as normal, Hotch having already memorized his two lines. With no theatre experience, he didn’t mind only being cast as “fourth pirate.” His one complaint, however, was that during practice he never really got to talk to her. Of course, she’s one of the most talented people in the club, so she got an actual role. He was happy for her, and she definitely deserved a good part, but it bothered him that he signed up to see her and he rarely got the chance. He sighed, thinking about this, as he grabbed his bag to head home for the day. His plans to leave were cut short by the person he least expected to talk to him.

“Hey, it’s Aaron right?” Haley caught up to him at the door.

_ Holy shit she remembered my name,  _ “Uh, yeah it is,” he smiled, “And you’re Haley?” 

“Yeah,” she laughed, looking down at the floor before meeting his gaze again ,“so, how are you enjoying theatre? I take it you’ve never tried it before?” 

“No I haven’t. It’s pretty good, there’s a lot of nice people here,” he shrugged. 

“Yeah, I think we’re all pretty nice,” she let out a small laugh, “So, what made you wanna try out this year?” 

“Just a feeling, I guess.” 

“A feeling. Interesting. I’m hoping it’s a good one?” 

“Oh, definitely.” 

She held his gaze for a moment, almost as if she knew what he was referring to. Biting her lip, she responded, “What grade are you in? I’ve never seen you around before.” 

He took a breath, “I’m a junior. And you are?” 

“Sophomore,” she nodded, “that explains why I haven’t seen you, I guess.” 

“That’s a shame. It’d be great to have some classes with you.” 

“Really?” Haley smiled. 

“Yeah, I think so.” 

She laughed, “You seem to be thinking a lot of things, Aaron,” 

“You have no idea,” he smiled back to her, “so, where’re you headed? I’ll walk you there.” 

“Wow, he’s cute and a gentleman. But, uh,” she shook her head, as if to clear her thoughts, “just out front, my mom’s getting me,” 

He couldn’t help but blush at being called cute, “Okay, great, my bike’s out there.” 

They started down the hallway and all Hotch could think about as they walked was how badly he wanted to hold her hand. Her nails were painted a light, blushing pink, and her hands looked so soft, almost pure, especially compared to his own. While hers appeared clean and manicured, his were damaged, rough, and scarred. Trying to not think about his own faults, he wondered if she used some special scented lotion. He hoped someday he’d have the privilege to know if she did. She looked at him, and he really wanted to know what was going on inside her head. If she feels the same way, or if she’s just trying to be nice. He was thinking back through their conversation, trying to decipher what was on her mind. He didn’t think about it for long, though, because his question was answered quickly by her.

“I don’t wanna be too forward or anything, but could I maybe get your number?” 

This simple question sent his heart racing. She wants his number? He couldn’t believe  _ she  _ asked  _ him  _ that and not the other way around. So she really  _ does  _ feel the same way. “Yeah, totally, uh, do you want me to put it in your phone?” 

“Sure,” she smiled, handing it to him. 

He texted a quick “hey” to his number before reaching it back out to her. As she took it, her fingers danced over his, and he knew for sure that her hands were soft. 

“Well, that’s my mom’s car. Talk to you later?” 

“Definitely.” 

He waved at her quickly before unlocking his bike and heading back home. Only once he got started did he realize he never told her that everyone calls him Hotch, not Aaron. For some reason, when she said his name, it was okay. It didn’t carry around the same weight it usually did. Maybe it was her voice, soft and kind, never any malicious intent, that made his name sound okay. Or maybe it was just because it was her: beautiful, kind, and talented. Either way, he knew that letting her call him Aaron meant that he was falling for her, and fast. 

Riding off into the night, he wondered what he should say, now that they have each other’s numbers. He could always just ask what she’s doing, or how she is, but he wanted to make it special. She deserved a conversation that would make her smile at her phone, one that would make her mom ask ‘why are you so happy all of a sudden?’. So he had to think of a conversation starter that would help him get to know her, but also show her a part of him. 

As he parked his bike in his garage, he remembered the other thing he looks forward to each day. So, before walking inside, he sent her a text that he hoped she’d be happy to receive:

_ Do you prefer sunsets or sunrises? _

  
  


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

JJ wrapped a fluffy towel around herself as she stepped out of the shower. She twisted her other towel around her hair and grabbed her phone off the counter. She then exited into the hallway, speed walking to her bedroom, trying to ignore her parents’ yelling as she went. Ever since her sister’s death, the house was either completely silent or filled with her parents’ angry voices. They couldn’t seem to get along after losing Roslyn, but they were trying to ‘make the marriage work’ for JJ. Not that they’d listen if she said it, but the teenager wished her parents would just get divorced. She couldn’t imagine that being worse than the yelling. JJ almost always had music on at this point, either to drown out their voices or to bring some sort of sound into the painfully silent house. She no longer considered it a home, since her family was left with a rift between them. Her parents blamed each other, and JJ blamed herself. Nobody was fully happy anymore.

She pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a tank top before quickly running a brush through her hair. Not wanting to listen to her parents argue, she decided she’d talk to her friends instead. She grabbed her phone and hit the ‘facetime’ button on their group chat. 

A few seconds passed before Spencer answered, “Hey, Jayje, what’s up?” 

“Nothing, just trying to tune out my parents for a little bit. Gonna do what’s left of my homework later.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. What work do you have?” 

“I just have to read the next chapter of my English book, it won’t take long. But it’s hard to focus with them in the background,” she sighed. 

“Is there anything I can do?” Spencer asked, concern filling his face.

“Can you just distract me for a little bit?” 

“Yeah, no problem,” he paused for a second, thinking, “Have you decided what you’re doing for the homecoming dance yet?” 

“I actually wanted to talk to you about that. I don’t wanna deal with a date this year, and I know you never wanna deal with that, so would you wanna go as friends?” 

“Definitely, that’d be great,” he smiled, “What about Haley? Does she know who she’s gonna go with?” 

“No, but she brought up some guy from theatre at lunch today, so something might be happening there,” JJ laid down on the bed, phone in front of her. 

“Hmm. Interesting. I’ll ask her about it the next time I see her.” 

“It doesn’t sound like there’s much to know right now. Unless something happened at practice today,”

“Oh, ok.” 

“Well speak of the devil, look who’s here,” JJ smiled as Haley joined the call. 

“Sorry, guys I just got home. Speak of the devil? Hopefully it’s only good things,” she laughed. 

“It is, don’t worry. We just decided that Spence and I are going to homecoming as friends, and then we were wondering about this mystery theatre boy you’ve been talking about,” 

“I’m glad we’re talking about him, because guess what?”

“What?” both friends chimed in. 

“I got his number after practice!” Haley was beaming at her friends through the phone. 

“No way,” JJ added, both her and Spencer smiling with their friend. 

“Yup. He’s not that good at acting but oh my god does his face make up for it. I swear, he’s probably the best looking guy I’ve ever seen. No offense, Spencer. You’re a very close second place.” 

“None taken. Does he part his hair in the middle, by any chance?” 

“Uh, yeah. Why does it matter?”

“That gives him a more symmetrical appearance, and generally, a bilaterally symmetrical face is one of the traits that people perceive as attractive, along with appearing youthful and ‘average’.” 

“Huh. Interesting, actually. I guess his face is pretty symmetrical? Is that why you push your hair back like that? So it’s more symmetrical?” 

“Not really. I suppose it’s a plus but I just do that to keep it out of my face,” he shrugged. 

JJ laughed, shaking her head slightly, “Well, I don’t know how we started talking about this, guys, but Haley, what’s his name?”

“Aaron!” 

“Hotchner?” 

“Uh, yeah, I think so. Do you know him?” Haley furrowed her eyebrows. 

“Yeah, but just as kids. We went to the same elementary school. He was also in our middle school, but I don’t think either of us had classes with him.” 

“Hm. I didn’t realize you knew him.” 

“Not that well. Our parents know each other,” she brushed it off. 

“Oh, okay.” 

“Well, my homework’s not gonna do itself. I’ll talk to you guys later?” JJ asked. 

“Yeah, sounds good. See ya,” Haley waved slightly.

“Bye guys!” 

“Bye!” Spencer added.

JJ hung up and grabbed her laptop to play some music in the background while she read. Opening up Spotify, she started playing Taylor Swift’s album, ‘Folklore’, and reached into her backpack for her book. As she started reading, she couldn’t help but wish she felt as happy around her family as she did with her friends. She felt more at home with them than she ever did with her parents after Roslyn’s death.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Haley closed the facetime call and settled into bed for a few minutes while she waited for dinner to be ready. She hoped Aaron would text her, since she made the first move. Hearing her mom call her name, she walked downstairs and was heading to the table before feeling her phone vibrate. Reading the notification, she saw it was from someone who wasn’t in her contacts. Haley opened the conversation and quickly realized the text was from Aaron, after seeing the  _ hey  _ that he’d texted himself. She then read the text he’d just sent: 

_ Do you prefer sunsets or sunrises? _

She bit her lip in an unsuccessful attempt to stop smiling. She didn’t know what to expect from him, but it certainly wasn’t a text far from ‘what’s up?’. The fact that she was smiling at just his first text told her that he was already holding her heart in his hands. 

Her mom finally noticed the emotion painted on her face and asked, “Why are you so happy all of a sudden?”

Haley brushed it off, “It’s nothing,” and responded to him quickly before putting her phone away and sitting at the table.

_ Definitely sunrises. You? _

Her phone buzzed again, and she pulled it out, reading the text under the table. 

_ Same answer. There’s something so intricate yet so simple about watching the night change into the day. I think it’s the second most beautiful thing in the world. _

Haley smiled once again at his text, but furrowed her eyebrows at the last sentence. 

_ I totally agree. Why the second? What’s the first? _

She waited for an answer but after watching him type and delete a message a bunch of times, she decided to put her phone away for the time being. A couple minutes passed before she received an answer that made her completely red in the face:

_ You _

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Thank you so much for dinner, Mrs. Morgan,” Penelope said, rinsing her plate in the sink. 

“Please, call me Fran. And don’t worry about the dishes, I’ll take care of them. You two can go hang out,” Derek’s mom said, smiling at the teenagers.

“Thanks, mom,” he gave her a quick wave before walking to his backyard, Penelope trailing behind.

“I thought we were just gonna watch TV?”

“There’s something I wanna do first,” the boy answered, opening the back door for his friend and gesturing for her to exit. She walked out into the yard, and took a double take at what sat there waiting for her. 

Kevin stood in Derek’s yard, holding a cat with a purple bow around its neck and a large sign that read:

_ Penelope, I would be feline purr-fect if you were my date to homecoming _

“Kevin!” she exclaimed, running towards him, “of course I’ll go with you!” 

He pulled her in for a hug and kissed her on the cheek, “His name is Charlie.”

Penelope looked down at the fluffy gray cat held before her, “Is he for me?” she asked tentatively.

“No, Derek said your parents wouldn’t let you have a cat. So I brought mine.”

“Oh, thank god. I mean I totally love him but I have four brothers already. I don’t need another boy in the house,” the girl laughed, before turning to her other friend, “So this was  _ your  _ idea.”

He shrugged, “I pushed him in the right direction.”

“Mhm. Thank you, Derek,” she wrapped him into a hug.

“Anytime, babygirl.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> literally 2 of these scenes are based off of actual conversations/ experiences I've had. Have fun trying to figure out which ones! Also I'm sorry for sad JJ and I can't say she'll be happy for a while but I swear the slow burn will be worth it. and I'm not sorry for the Scary Movie plug bc that's one of my favorites, nor am I sorry for making JJ listen to folklore because she definitely would. hope you enjoyed! check out my Tumblr @prentizz ! :) (one last thing, I'm definitely gonna keep having Emily call Dave 'man-whore' because I think it's very funny)


	4. dream a little dream of me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hotch has some plans for him and Haley! and JJ and Emily both make some strides with their sexuality. also, we've made it to the homecoming football game!

_ Could I drive you home tonight after practice? _

_ Sure! but I thought you didn’t have a car? _

_ I made some arrangements _

Hotch had been planning this in his head since he met her. A chance to  _ really  _ spend some time with Haley. Not over the phone, and not at school. Tonight was the night. 

Practice, per usual, was uneventful. The entire hour and a half he was there, his mind was dedicated to her. He’d steal a glance from across the room, or a smile during a warm-up exercise. And after millions of these simple interactions, they finally made it to what he’d been waiting for. They each grabbed their things and met up in the hallway, walking side by side towards the exit. 

“Hey,” he couldn’t help but smile at her. 

“Hi,” she returned the expression, “What’re these ‘arrangements’ you’ve made?” 

Holding the door for her, he gestured to one of the first parking spots, “See for yourself.”

“No way. How the hell did you get Dave to agree to this?” she gaped at the red mustang. The aforementioned boy was known for both his love of cars and specifically his own. Letting someone else drive it,  _ especially  _ without Dave there to supervise? Unheard of. 

“What can I say? I’m just that likeable,” Aaron shrugged, opening the passenger side door for her. He walked around the car and got into his own seat, putting the top down afterward to let the fleeting day’s light shine down on them. He then pulled out of the school’s parking lot, the destination clear in his mind. 

Haley, confused by the direction he drove in, asked, “Don’t you need my address? You’re going the opposite way.” 

“Nope,” he said, popping his lips on the ‘P’. 

She went to say something else, but stopped herself, remembering she trusted Aaron. Whatever he had in store for her, she knew it would be good. 

“Do you wanna listen to anything?” 

“Sure,” she smiled, plugging her phone in and scrolling through her music, “any ideas?” 

“I’m good with anything. Nothing too energetic, though.”

She took this opportunity to put on music with a more romantic vibe, just in case either of them tried to make a move. She’s loved getting to know him these past couple weeks, but as much as she loved being friends, Haley felt more than that for Aaron. So, maybe to give them both a push in that direction, “Dream a little dream of me” by Ella Fitzgerald began to play. 

They drove in comfortable silence for a few more minutes before he pulled into the parking lot for the lake in their town. It wasn’t much, just a medium-sized lake overlooked by the usual Virginia trees. What made it special, at least to Aaron, was that it was the perfect place to look at the sky. 

Stopping the car, he turned to her, “So, I know it’s not a sunrise but I hope it still works.” 

The girl gazed upon the sight in front of her. A landscape with blue, lavender, pink, and orange all fading into each other was painted on the sky and then reflected onto the water below. 

“It’s beautiful,” she whispered, eyes trained on the picture-perfect night. 

His eyes, barely acknowledging the sunset, were on her. With a surge of confidence, he reached over, brushing his pinky against hers. Like she was waiting for it, she opened her hand up to his and he took it. She then met his eyes after what felt like a lifetime. He moved his thumb up and down the back of her hand, finally feeling the soft skin he’d expected. They shared a silent moment, both too scared to say what’s on their mind. 

Aaron swallowed, finally speaking up, “Haley, do you want to come to homecoming with me?” 

“Of course I do,” she answered, smiling at him. 

“I’m glad you said yes, or else this next question would be a lot more awkward,” his heartbeat picked up even more speed than before. 

She furrowed her eyebrows slightly, “What’s that?” 

“Can I kiss you?” 

As the confusion in her face melted away, she closed the gap between them, grabbing the back of his head. For a moment, his eyes remained open with his eyebrows raised, before he realized what was happening. He sunk into the kiss, holding her waist, the back of her neck, the things he’d been seeing from mere feet away, the things he’d been longing to touch until she felt the same way. Inside his head, as their lips danced around each other’s, Aaron was seeing the sunset. He could feel the warmth of the sun in front of him beating in his chest. The colors flashed in his mind, the blues, purples, pinks, and oranges, all feeding into the surge of emotion he felt. The two, pulling away, made eye contact once again, listening to each other’s breathing over the long-forgotten music. “Is that a yes?” he asked, forehead pressed against hers. The blonde laughed slightly before meeting his lips again. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hotch had a smile on his face since he’d woken up that morning. And  _ nothing  _ could possibly get rid of it. His friends noticed, especially Dave, who hadn’t had a conversation yet today that wasn’t about Hotch’s ‘life-changing’ experience. 

“I just can’t believe she kissed me! I thought I’d have to make the first move!”

Fingers rubbing his temples, Dave responded, “Yup, Hotch, you’ve mentioned that.”

“God it was so perfect. How was I missing her my whole life? It was like-”

“‘Everything finally came together’. I know.” 

Unfazed, the younger boy continued, “I think I want to marry her. Oh my God, I definitely want-” 

Grabbing him by the shoulders, Dave put a stop to his friend’s love-filled rambles, “Okay, let’s stop right there. Hotchner, I’m happy for you, don’t get me wrong. But you’ve kissed the girl once, and you’re not even dating her yet. Also, you’re 17. Take a breather.”

“You weren’t there. It was everything I’ve ever wanted and-”

“No!” he put a finger to Hotch’s lips, “We’re not doing this again. If you wanna marry her someday, that’s fine. But for now, you need to relax. Let’s start off with asking her out, shall we?”

Hotch nodded, allowing his friend to continue.

“Good. So, you’re going to homecoming together. You made out. Now you’ve just got to pop the question. When are you gonna do it?” 

“I don’t know, I’ve never done this before.” 

“What do you mean? You’ve been my wingman all these years, you’ve been out with other girls, hell, you kissed them too. Just ask her on a date.” 

“Those things don’t matter, it’s different with her. I didn’t feel that way with them.” 

Dave sighed, “Fine. Then at homecoming, maybe. Or at the party. You’re gonna have to ask her eventually, because once you guys put on that play you’ll have no excuse to see her.”

The younger boy pursed his lips, thinking, “Fine. I’ll ask her sometime after the dance.”

“Attaboy,” Dave smiled, patting his friend’s shoulder, “Speaking of after the dance, is she coming to my party with you?”

“Yeah, I told her about it.”

“Does she want anyone else to come? I’ll invite whoever.”

“Not sure, but I’ll ask,” Hotch answers, texting her Dave’s question. Only a few seconds later his phone buzzed with Haley’s answer, “She says Spencer Reid and Jennifer Jareau. You know them?” 

“Yeah. Reid’s in my grade but he’s only 16. I think he’s some kind of genius. And she plays for the soccer team, right? Don’t you know her?” 

“Not really anymore. Our parents know each other, though.” 

“Okay. Well, can you send her the details to give to them?.” 

Hotch nodded and texted Haley again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Seems like forever since we’ve had all three of us together in person,” JJ laughed. 

“Sorry,” Spencer responded, a sheepish look on his face. 

“You’re lucky we love you,” she narrowed her eyes, turning to her other friend, she continued, “Now, Haley, please tell us everything about the homecoming ask.” 

Haley, who’d been dying to talk about it since they’d sat down for lunch, immediately gushed, “Oh my god, it was so sweet. He asked if he could drive me home and he took me to the lake and we watched the sunset. And we were holding hands when he asked if I’d go to homecoming with him. God, he’s so caring and so romantic. He asked if he could kiss me and I just did it. It was a picture-perfect moment.” 

Smiles plastered on their faces, her friends were ecstatic at Haley’s romantic feats. “That sounds amazing. Meanwhile, I’m stuck with her,” Spencer nodded his head at JJ. 

“Hey! Do you want a date or not?” she feigned offense. 

“Fair point.” 

“So, speaking of romance, anything interesting going on with you two?” 

“Nope,” they answered simultaneously. JJ continued, “If there was, you two would be the first to know.” “I haven’t met anyone yet that is worth the distraction, to be honest,” the boy shrugged, “I think I have enough on my plate for the time being, and unless I meet someone really special, I don’t see myself getting into a relationship right now.”

“Honestly, same. I mean dating can be really stressful, not to mention all my confusion right now, and I don’t really feel like seeking someone out. If I meet someone, though, I’ll put the effort in.” 

“Wait, go back a second, what confusion?” Haley asked, eyebrows furrowed. 

For JJ, time stood still. Over the past couple of weeks, she hadn’t stopped thinking about that talk with the soccer team. Not so much the homophobic things the girls said, but mostly how she’d felt about the situation. Of course, she was disappointed that her teammates could be so close-minded. But at the forefront of her mind was one question: Why did JJ feel so personally attacked by their homophobic remarks? She’d kissed guys, even dated them. She knew for sure that she liked them, so obviously she couldn’t be a lesbian. Not that her parents would be okay with it, anyways. They’d tried ingraining the same homophobic feelings her teammates had into JJ. It worked to some degree when she was a kid, never going so far as to be outwardly offensive, but thinking it was weird when she saw two boys holding hands. Her sister made a point to change that. Roslyn sat her down and told her that there wasn’t anything wrong with liking someone who’s the same gender, no matter what Mom and Dad said. Of course, JJ listened to everything her sister said, and no longer judged people on their sexuality. But this still didn’t answer the nagging question of why JJ was taking homophobia as a personal attack. Unwilling to share any of these thoughts with her friends, she tried to dodge the question, “Oh, sorry. Just a slip of words.”

“Okay, Jayje,” Haley answered, not convinced of the answer but not going to push her friend. 

As they slipped back into their normal conversation, JJ avoided eye contact with her friends as much as possible. This, however, did not stop Spencer from staring daggers into her head. She knew for sure he figured out what she was confused about, or at least the fact that there was more than she was letting on. When he wanted to, he could be very good at reading people. This was a useful skill, but JJ didn’t appreciate it being used against her. She should make a rule that he shouldn’t be allowed to analyze his friends like this anymore. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thankfully, JJ didn’t really have to interact with any of her teammates today. Besides the usual greetings, or yells for a pass, she avoided conversation as much as possible. She did the same thing in the locker room: kept to herself and tried not to hear anything she wouldn’t want to. Everyone ended up being too invested in getting home to bother starting conversation with her, which she appreciated. All JJ wanted to do was leave school and go to bed. Grabbing her backpack, she left the locker room and started towards her house. The walk was uneventful until just as she was coming up to her street, she heard someone running up behind her. Unsure what to expect, she whipped her head around, ready to bolt at the sight of danger.

Instead, she was greeted by the complete opposite: an incredibly out of breath Spencer Reid, “JJ.” 

“Hey Spencer,” she said, confused, “why were you at school so late?” 

“Busy day at chess. I want to talk to you.” 

JJ took a breath. Knowing what he wanted to talk about, she tried to deflect, “What does a busy day at chess even include?”

“Jayje, seriously,” he stopped her, putting a hand on her shoulder, “We don’t have to talk about it if you really don’t want to. But I can tell these last couple of weeks there’s been something on your mind. And if it’s what I think it is, I’d be a hypocrite if I judged you.” 

“Can we go to your house?” she bit her lip, tears springing at her eyes. 

“Of course,” he answered and pulled her in for a quick hug before leading her to his house. 

They made it to his home quickly since he lived only a couple minute’s walk from her house. Both of them said a quick ‘hi’ to his mom, whom they both adored, before heading to his room. As soon as the door clicked shut, the smiley facade she held for his mother fell apart. She began to sob, and Spencer pulled her into his arms, letting her take comfort in his stability. He held her tight, letting the tears fall, “Hey, Jayje, it’s okay. Breathe.” Stroking her hair, he decided it would be best to wait until she was ready to talk instead of pushing her to. Spencer knew she wasn’t big on sharing her feelings. He guessed it started after her sister’s death. He didn’t know a lot about Roslyn, but he did know that as a child, she was JJ’s main confidant. After losing her, he doubted she’d find another person to be so comfortable sharing with. 

After finally unburying her head from his chest, she looked up at him, “I’m sorry.” 

“Don’t worry about it. What happened?” 

JJ swallowed, “It all started with the girls on the team…” she began to tell the story with Olivia, and how her previous friends had been insensitive to the rumor of her being a lesbian. Fighting sobs, she then explained how she felt hurt by it but doesn’t know why.

“Have you ever had feelings for a girl?” 

“No. Maybe. I don’t know,” she thought for a moment, before continuing, “How did you know you were gay?” 

“It took a while for me to be sure, but I guess it was a combination of a bunch of little things. I was always more focused on the male characters in the media, I had some questionable dreams about men, and then eventually there were real feelings for them. But I didn’t just wake up one day and know. It took a lot of confusion first, some research, and then acceptance.” 

“This is hard.” 

“You know, you don’t have to have an answer.” 

“I guess you’re right. But I’d like to have one, I mean, what about my parents? They’d kick me out if they knew I was even considering the idea of being gay!” JJ’s breathing sped up. 

“Hey, look at me. Deep breaths. Everything’s gonna be fine. It doesn’t matter if you’re gay or straight or anything else; Haley and I will always be here for you, okay? And no matter what your parents say, there’s nothing wrong with being gay.”

“I just wish this wasn’t so hard,” she said, making an effort to slow her breaths. 

The boy sighed, “I know, me too. It’ll get easier once we both meet the right people.” 

“Yeah, I hope so.”

“It will. Trust me. And don’t focus too much on what you don’t know, focus more on what you do know. You said earlier you definitely like men, but you’ve been unsure with women recently, right?”

“Yeah.”

“So maybe you’re bi.”

“Maybe I’m what?” her eyebrows furrowed together.

“Bisexual. The sexual attraction to both men and women; often simplified to the word ‘bi’.”

“Hmm. Bisexual,” she repeated as if to test the term out, “Maybe.”

“You don’t have to decide anything right now. But based on what you’ve been saying, it sounds like you might like both men and women. Even if you’re still not sure and you just want a label for the time being, there’s no harm in using one right now and changing your mind later on.” 

“I still don’t know. But I think I like the sound of that. I’ll let you know if I decide.”

“Okay, great. Are you going to stay for dinner?”

“No, but thanks. I should probably head back to my house.”

She stood up, and he followed shortly, “I’ll walk you there.”

Throwing her back around her shoulders, she waved him off, “Eh, don’t worry about it. You’ve done enough for me tonight.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, it’s fine. Thank you, though, for everything. I don’t know what I’d do without you,” she said, walking with him towards the front of the house.

“Anytime,” he stopped at the door, “And don’t hesitate to call me or come over if you need something.”

“I won’t. Love you, Spence. And thank you, Diana, for having me!” she yelled to his mother.

“Goodbye, JJ.” his mother spoke from the family room.

“Love you too, Jayje. See you tomorrow.”

She headed out the door, giving him a quick wave as she left. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“How’s this one look?” Penelope asked, waltzing out of the dressing room in a flowy blue dress.

“Eh. I feel like you need something brighter than that.” 

“Good. I didn’t love it but I wanted your opinion first. I have a pink one next,” the blonde did small jazz-hands before closing the curtain. 

Emily sighed, texting Derek,  _ Remind me again why I agreed to go dress shopping with Pen? It’s been like two hours.  _

He responded in seconds, clearly enjoying her misery,  _ C’mon. How bad could it be?  _

_ SO BAD. I think she’s coming up on her twelfth dress. I tried on one and bought it.  _

_ Which is exactly why she gets more compliments on her outfits than you.  _

_ Oh, shut up. If you were here you’d have done the same thing.  _

_ Speaking of me, what color is your dress? My tie’s got to match.  _

_ Black.  _

_ You depress me.  _

_ You’ll get over it. Wear a red tie, if you’d like.  _

_ Much better. Black tie is too boring for my taste. _

Penelope came out wearing a form-fitting pink dress, ending at her mid-thigh, “How do we like this one?” Emily looked her up and down, deciding how she felt about the dress. It was bright pink with a slightly plunging neckline and had the perfect balance between hot but not too revealing for a school dance. 

“My favorite one so far.” 

“Me too! I think I’ve decided, finally.” 

Emily silently thanked whatever god there might be, glad she didn’t have to go to another store, “Great!” she responded and pulled out her phone again, “I’ll let Derek know.”

_ The decision has been made: Pink dress  _

_ Pics?  _

_ I’ll ask her. I’m sure she took some.  _ Emily yelled to her friend, “Pen, can you text a picture of the dress to him?” 

“Sure, one sec!” about thirty seconds passed before she spoke up again, “he should’ve just gotten it.”

Emily waited a couple seconds before receiving another text from her friend. 

_ It’s cute! Exactly the type I’d expect from her.  _

_ Same. We should be leaving soon.  _

_ Good. I don’t know how much longer you’d survive in there lol _

_ Me neither. God I hate shopping _

_ Really? I haven’t noticed. _

_ Funny. She’s coming out, I’ll talk to you later. _

_ Ok, see ya. _

The girls headed to the register, each carrying their respective dress. They each paid and headed towards the exit. 

“So, is Kevin gonna get a bright pink tie to match?”

“Of course! I’ll probably make him come out with me tomorrow to get it.”

“How come you’re going?”

“Well, first of all, I need to make sure he gets the right color. Second of all, I’m not passing up a chance to spend time with him, especially if we’re shopping!”

Emily laughed as they came up to the car, “I wouldn’t expect anything less from you.”

After hanging both dresses in the back, they each took their seats. Once Emily got started driving, the blonde spoke up, “So, you’re really gonna go with Derek again? Not that I’m judging, I just know there’s plenty of guys that’d go with you.” 

Emily’s grip tightened on the wheel as she debated in her mind if she should tell her friend the truth or not. She took a breath, deciding on the former, “That’s the issue, I think.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“You know, that it’s  _ guys  _ that want to ask me out.”

“Oh,” Penelope said, thinking for a second, before adding, “So I’m the only straight one out of the three of us?”

“Looks that way.” 

“Cool. More guys for me,” she smiled at Emily, who laughed. 

“Love you, Pen.” 

“I love you too, Em.” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After what felt like years of practicing and preparations, the homecoming football game had finally arrived. The Quantico pirates would be playing against the Dumfries Panthers, their rival school. Derek had essentially cut himself off from his friends the past couple weeks, in preparation for the big game. Outside of school, he spent as much time as possible practicing and working out, and hadn’t spoken to them unless through texting. Although they were disappointed, since they enjoyed spending time with him, they understood. Football was his passion, and he didn’t put that much effort into anything else. After his dad’s death, he threw himself at the sport. Hank Morgan had played for his Chicago high school’s football team as the quarterback, and Derek wanted nothing more than to follow in his footsteps. Of course, these plans were skewed when his mother decided to move him and his sisters from Illinois to Virginia. But nevertheless, Derek continued his football career despite being unable to play at the same school his dad had. Now, he didn’t mind, because Quantico high school was known for its impressive football program. This was all thanks to the head coach, Carl Buford. The boy had never met another man so dedicated to helping students and athletes succeed in life. Freshman year, before Derek’s impressive growth spurt, he had been on the Junior Varsity team. When he was upset about being smaller than most of the other boys, Coach Buford had told him that if he worked as hard as he could, he would be bigger than them. So, that summer, Derek worked out as much as possible, and he gained what felt like 100 pounds of muscle and grew 6 inches. Then, sophomore year, he made it onto the Varsity team. However, there was still one thing holding him back: experience. He wanted to be the starting quarterback, but there was a boy a year ahead of him who was incredibly talented. But again, Coach Buford came to Derek and told him that he saw something special in him and that if he really pushed himself, he could be the best of the best. 

Once again, Derek pushed himself. All last summer, he did passing routes after practice. He lifted weights. He went on runs. He scrimmaged with his friends. And finally, this year, it all paid off. He could tell he was quicker than the starting quarterback and had faster, more accurate throws. The homecoming game would be the perfect time to prove to Carl Buford that he had been working as hard as he could to become what he wanted to be, and maybe,  _ just maybe,  _ he would become the starting quarterback, just as his dad had been. 

So, to Derek, this game was everything to him, and tonight was the night it would happen. He nearly threw up out of pure excitement when he walked into the locker room and saw the rest of the boys gearing up. After putting his bag down on the bench, he joined them in the process of putting on the gear. Taking more time than usual, he didn’t want to mess anything up. He retightened his pants about four times trying to make sure he got it  _ just  _ right and then did the same with his cleats and shoulder pads. Once all his gear was on, there was just one thing left: his jersey. So much power was held in such a simple piece of clothing. The black and red shirt was new, still clean since it was unused. He wanted to believe this would be the last time he’d wear it as the backup quarterback. As he slipped it over his head and pulled it down over his torso, he had a good feeling that this would be the year he’d prove himself. 

Lost in thought, he was pulled back to reality by one of his teammates hitting his shoulder pad, “Hey, Morgan, you coming? Coach wants us out there.”

“Yeah, I’m coming.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One minute from halftime, Derek sighed. He’d been on the bench since warmups. The thing he wanted most from this game was to prove himself, not sit and watch another guy do the job he dreamed of doing. Turning back towards the stands, he looked towards his friends, who’d come to watch the game. Penelope and Emily, both clad in red and black outfits for school spirit, sat in the middle of the bleachers behind where Derek sat. The blonde, of course, held a large sign, reading “I love Derek Morgan #19!”, and was shaking it aggressively once she’d caught his eye. Emily didn’t have a sign but was shaking a black and red pom-pom that she was clearly made to hold against her own free will. Derek gave his friends a quick wave before turning back to the game because even if he wasn’t playing, he still loved watching the sport. 

He trained his eyes on the starting quarterback, watching as he, instead of throwing it, ran with the ball. The play seemed perfect, but Derek noticed something the other boy didn’t. Although it looked to him like a clear path, one of the rival team’s players charged at the quarterback, shoving him to the ground. Despite being far away, the entire crowd seemed to hear how hard he hit the ground. Everyone went silent, other than some stray ‘ooh’s or ‘Is he okay?’s, trying to see if the player would get back up. Just then, the buzzer went off for halftime. As the crowd began to expand, everyone now focused on the snack stands, cheerleaders, and halftime festivities, both teams were still trained on the injured player. Carl Buford rushed over to him, along with the other team’s coach, and it became clear to the other players that the boy was injured somehow. 

The coaches waved over some of the boys on the bench, asking for their help once they arrived, “Okay, Beckham, grab his helmet, Donahue and Novak, carry him to the bench and get him ice until the nurse gets there,” the three boys nodded and did as they were told. Derek then caught a glance at the boy’s arm, which was clearly broken in a very unpleasant manner. Only then did he realize what would happen next. 

“Morgan.”

“Yes, Coach?” he turned to Carl Buford, hoping to hear what he wanted.

“You’re our new quarterback. Get in there next half,” he patted him on the shoulder.

“Yes, sir, thank you, ” he nodded.

“I’m glad you’re playing tonight, as unfortunate as these circumstances are.”

“I hope Johnson heals fast.”

“Me too. But in the meantime, I have a lot of faith in you. You have something special, I can see it.”

“Thank you so much, Coach, I won’t let you down.”

“I know. Now get out there,” he nodded his head towards the field, patting the small of Derek’s back as he jogged out to his position.

As he arrived in his place, his beaming smile was quickly covered with his helmet and mouthguard. Setting up with the rest of his teammates, he tossed another glance at his friends, who were cheering wildly with the rest of the stadium as they waited for the game to continue. At that moment, the one he’d been craving for years, he was terrified. It would be so easy to mess up, to lose everything he’d worked so hard for. But, as he held the ball in his hands, ready to scan the field for an open pass, he knew, all the practicing had been worth it. Despite his nerves, his body took over, completing the necessary, well-rehearsed moves. Like a choreographed dance, he was able to dodge incoming defenders the way his teammates couldn’t. And when he had the ball, ready the throw, he’d scan the field like a hawk searching for its prey. Before he knew it, the score changed from 14-21 to 28-21, with the Pirates in the lead. It was clear, to both the fans and the players, that Derek Morgan was exactly what their team needed to win the state championships. And when the buzzer sounded, tearing him out of the little football world he’d been living in, Derek realized that he’d made it. His teammates and his coach came running towards each other in a big huddle, and a sea of high-fives flew around him. The crowd started roaring, celebrating the victory all the Pirate’s fans had been hoping for. Derek wished he could live forever in this moment, his friends screaming his name, black and red confetti filling the field, his teammates telling him what a great job he did. It made him so immensely happy, and he knew that if his dad were still around, he’d be ecstatic too.

As the field began to clear a bit, and he’d long taken off his helmet and gloves, Carl Buford approached him, “Morgan, that was some great fieldwork out there. Probably one of the most impressive performances I’ve seen in a while. You should be proud.”

“I am, sir. Thank you so much!”

“Call me coach, or Carl, if you’d like. From where I’m standing, it doesn’t look like Johnson will be the starting quarterback, even after he’s healed.”

“Wow, thank you so much, sir- I mean, Carl,” Derek smiled from ear-to-ear, unable to contain his excitement.

“No problem. I’d love to work one-on-one with you some time since you don’t play on a team outside of school.”

“It’d be an honor! Thank you, again.”

Carl patted his shoulder, “Just doing my job. I’ll see you Monday. Don’t have too much fun at that dance tomorrow,” he winked and headed off towards some of the other players.

After grabbing his things, Derek bolted to his friends, eager to share his life-changing news. He caught up to them in the parking lot and was immediately greeted by a Penelope Garcia wrapping her arms around him.

“Derek! You played so well! You’re like a sexy football boy now!”

Emily piped up from behind her, “good job!”

“Haven’t I always been a sexy football boy?”

“I mean, yeah,” the blonde laughed, “but you don’t usually play like that! I think what you did was good? But also, you smell bad,” she pulled away from the hug.

“I probably do. But you’re never gonna believe what coach said to me just now.”

“What?” both girls chimed in.

“I’m the new starting quarterback!” 

“Holy shit, dude! That’s great!” Emily gave him a high five.

“Oh, I don’t care if you smell bad, that’s such great news!” the other girl pulled him back into a hug. 

“You know how I wanna celebrate?”

“How?”

“By going right home and then right to bed. I’m exhausted and I need as much energy as possible for tomorrow night.”

“Okay, I think I can make that work.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh boy. sorry about Carl Buford EVEN EXISTING. I swear Morgan will still end up happy by the end of this fic, but I cannot promise he won't get traumatized along the way. in other news, I hope y'all aren't too sad about JJ having a rough time with her sexuality. she'll figure it out! I swear. also, I love writing romance and I hope y'all are enjoying all this hitch/haley stuff cause I love writing it. can't wait to write for the rest of the ships :)) hope you enjoyed! my Tumblr is @prentizz


	5. when i fall in love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> homecoming is finally here! lots of hotch/haley action, some Kevin/Penelope, and Emily yearning. overall? lots of dancing. and yearning

Hopping in the back of Dave’s mustang, Hotch could barely buckle up, too jittery about seeing Haley. 

“Tonight’s the night, man. Are you gonna be able to keep it together?” the older boy raised an eyebrow, noticing his friend’s nerves. 

“Yeah. Tonight’s the night,” he repeated. 

Hayden, Dave’s date, turned around, “What’s happening tonight?” 

“He’s supposed to ask Haley out. I think he’s gonna chicken out, though.” 

“Hey! I’m not gonna chicken out!” 

“Whatever you say,” Dave chuckled. 

“Well, either way, I’ll put in a good word for you,” she offered him a smile. 

Hotch furrowed his eyebrows, “I thought you didn’t know her?” 

“I don’t. But girls talk, you know?”

“What are you gonna say?” he leaned forward towards them. 

“I don’t know, that you’re cute and a really nice guy. Something offhand.” 

“Oh, okay,” he took a breath and settled back into his seat. Bouncing his leg, he watched the buildings go by slower and slower until the car came to a stop in front of Haley’s house. Before he could overthink it, Hotch pulled himself out of the car and walked up to the entrance. He raised his fist up to the door but couldn’t bring himself to knock. This night could determine his entire future with Haley, and he was terrified of messing it up. Since his homecoming ask, they’ve been talking as much as possible. They’d meet up at the start of the day and then after theatre he’d stay with her until her mom arrived. The pair relished each other’s presence and did their best to spend every possible moment talking. There was only one time in the day, besides during class, that they didn’t hang out, which was lunch. Although they still texted most of the period, neither of them was willing to ask the other if they could eat lunch together. To Aaron, at least, it felt too intimate. Sharing a mealtime together seemed like a  _ date  _ to him. Not that he didn’t want to date her, he just wanted to make it special. He wanted all of the cheesiness involved with a relationship, if it was with her. The flowers, the chivalry, the stupid one-liners. With anyone else, he wouldn’t want all that. But for Haley? Aaron wanted her to feel like she was in a movie. He wanted every moment with her to be special, because she deserved nothing but the best. This thought brought him back to reality: if he wanted to give her all that, he’d have to at least knock. And as he rapped his knuckles against the wood, his love for her overpowered any fears. 

“Aaron! I’ll be right there!” He heard Haley from the other side of the door as he took deep breaths. 

_ Tonight’s the night,  _ he reminded himself. 

The knob turned and the door pulled open, “Hi- wow. You look great,” she bit her lip. He, meanwhile, was at a loss for words. She wore a baby-blue dress ending at her mid thigh. While it fit her snugly on her upper body, it was flowier on the bottom. The light wave of the fabric reminded him of water, freely rippling in the breeze. 

She looked, “Perfect,” realizing he said that out loud, Aaron tried to save himself, “I mean- you. You look perfect. That dress is beautiful, Haley.” 

Blush filling her cheeks, she looked at the floor, trying to hide her smile, “Thanks, so do you.” When she finally met his eyes, he wished he’d never lose her gaze again. 

He reached out for her hand, “So, do you wanna go?” 

She took it, “Ready whenever you are.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Oh my God. If this bastard makes us late, Penelope is going to kill us,” Emily said to herself, head in her hands against the steering wheel. 

Just as she started to consider leaving him behind, Derek yanked open the passenger side door and plopped down, “Sorry, had to do some finishing touches.” 

“You’re lucky I haven’t killed you.” 

“You know you love me,” he smiled, looking at himself in the car’s mirror. 

“Mhm. Whatever you say. But when we’re late I’m telling Penelope it’s your fault.” 

Derek turned to her, eyes wide, “Okay you win, can you go any faster?” 

She laughed, “We’re fine. I just wanted you to say that I win.” 

“I’d hit you right now if you weren’t driving.”

“I’ll stop driving and you can get out, if you’d like?” 

“Okay! I’m done. Thank you for being my chauffeur, Emily,” he dragged out the ‘y’ in her name. 

“Whatever. You excited for tonight?” 

“Hell yeah. When else do I get to dress all fancy?” he smiled, “Are you?” 

“Yeah, actually. Not about the dressing fancy, I do that enough with my mom. But I enjoy the dancing and, of course, the partying. Speaking of, you’re coming to Dave’s party, right?” 

“Yeah. I’m not drinking, though. Unlike you, who I fully expect to have forgotten your name by the end of the night.”

“Hey! I’m not that bad. And there’s nothing wrong with having a little fun.”

“A ‘little’ is a couple white claws or a game of beer pong. Not walking around with your own personal vodka bottle from Russia.” 

“It was a collectible! Are you still not drinking because of football?”

“Of course! I’ve gotta stay in shape and I don’t want to jeopardize my spot on the team by making the stupid decisions you do.” 

“You say that, but I’m pretty sure all of my best ideas have come to me while I was drunk.” 

“Really? Because I have many examples of particularly  _ awful  _ decisions you’ve made, if you want to-” 

“Hey!” she put a hand up, stopping him, “Just because I get my best ideas while I’m drunk doesn’t mean I don’t also get my worst ones.” 

Derek laughed, “Whatever you say. But if I get a text from you at 3 am while I’m sleeping soundly and you’re naked on the football field, don’t expect me to come get you.” 

“What happened to ‘keep this between us’?” 

He motioned ‘zipping’ his mouth shut, locking it, and throwing away the key.

“I’m going to homecoming with a 5 year old,” Emily sighed, “Thank god we’re here, because I don’t even wanna know what you were gonna say to that.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Sorry about the car, I know it’s not very glamorous-” 

“Are you kidding? I love it!” 

“Really?” he assumed she was lying to make him feel better, but the smile forming on her face was undeniably truthful. Apparently some people genuinely don’t care if their ride to homecoming is someone’s mom’s purple minivan. 

“Totally. Purple’s, like, my second favorite color. After pink, of course,” she gestured to her dress, practically glowing in the dark. 

He held his matching tie straight out, “Of course,” dropping it, he walked over to the passenger side door and opened it, “m’lady.”

Thank you, kind sir,” she laughed at the theatrics of it all. As Penelope stepped into the car, her date closed the door behind her. She took a moment to survey the inside as she buckled up. It seemed like it was just cleaned; there was the fresh scent of Clorox wipes filling the air. Not to mention that the carpets were nearly spotless, which wouldn’t make sense due to the old age of the car. A warm feeling spread inside her, knowing Kevin went through all this trouble to try and impress her. It definitely worked. She’d dated plenty of guys before, but nothing serious. She and Kevin had only really been friends up until this point, despite unheard feelings and stolen glances. But even though they were only friends, she knew he had all the ability to break her heart. If she was being honest? She wanted him to have it. Penelope had had a crush on him for over a year now, but harbored these possibly unrequited feelings, because to her, no guy was a match to Kevin. He was almost as skilled with a computer as her and he too enjoyed spending a lot of his time playing video games. He also shared her passion for animals (well, at least for cats). Penelope wanted nothing more than to cuddle in his living room with him, his cat, Charlie, and a movie on. As she watched him drive to the school, the girl looked at his arms. Even though she was looking through his white button down shirt, she just  _ knew  _ he’d be a good cuddler. She hoped she would get to see for herself. Of course, they’d hugged before, and he was certainly good at that too. But cuddling was something special to Penelope. She was a very physically affectionate person, so things like cuddling or holding hands were very important to her. And as if Kevin had some kind of telepathy, he reached over and rested his hand atop hers. With a quick response, she turned her hand over and twisted her fingers between his. 

“You look gorgeous. I’m really excited to dance with you tonight” 

“As do you,” Penelope smiled, “and me too. We’re gonna kill it out there, I just know it.” 

He laughed, “I’m sure we will.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Haley and Aaron stepped onto the hardwood floor of the gym, feeling the beat of the music in their shoes as it pulsated through the ground. Despite having only held hands a few times, it already felt as if his fit perfectly in hers. If it were up to Haley, she’d never let his go. 

“So, what do you wanna do?” he squeezed her hand. 

“Why don’t we sit down first and get a feel for things?”

“Okay.” They walked together over to the right side of the gym, where tables and chairs were scattered near the bleachers, which were partially pulled out to provide more seating. Aaron pulled out a chair for her at an empty table and sat down on the other side, “Planning on showing off your crazy dance moves tonight?” 

She laughed, “Oh, of course. But only if you join me.” 

“Haley Brooks, are you challenging me to a dance-off?” 

“Are you kidding me? I’d crush you. And, you know exactly what I was implying.” 

“Oh, I do? Hmm,” Aaron feigned confusion, “I don’t think so. Explain it to me please?” he flashed her his best puppy eyes. 

“You’re such a tease,” she rolled her eyes, “Aaron, would you give me the pleasure of sharing a dance tonight?” 

“It would be an honor,” he smiled. Despite the jokingly formal wording, he truly did mean it. To sway along to the music with her, despite the hundreds of other teenagers and the tacky decorations, is something that’s _definitely_ on his bucket list. Though he doesn’t have any experience with it, dancing is something that’s important to him, as far as romance. It’s something that carries an unknown weight to him. Maybe it’s the closeness, with her hands draped over his shoulders, or the way they fade into the music, feeling the words all around them. Regardless, he knew dancing with Haley would be something special, and definitely a privilege he’d want to take advantage of. This was especially because he knew she was a good dancer. He’d seen her at practices for “The Pirates of Penzance”. And though he knew it was only cheap, highschool choreography, Aaron could see she had talent. It was no surprise she got one of the main roles. The issue with this fantasy, however, was that he had no dancing experience whatsoever. Although he’d learned the ensemble choreography from doing the musical, it was clear he had two left feet. He wondered if Haley had noticed that during the practices, and hoped he’d be able to perform somewhat decently tonight or at least follow her lead well enough. 

Before he had a chance to continue thinking this through, she carried on with their conversation, “Where do you think Dave and Hayden ended up?” 

“Well, last year Hayden was more into the dancing, so I can only assume she’s with her friends. Dave, on the other hand, prefers to sit down, so I’m surprised he’s not here with us right now.” 

“I thought he was some big partier?” confusion filled her face. 

“He definitely is. Not a dancer, though. And he’d be drinking, but he wouldn’t risk crashing that car he loves so much, nor would he want anyone else driving it.” 

“Didn’t you drive it when we went to the lake?” 

“That was a one time thing. I’ll never be that lucky again.” 

“Oh, wow. Must’ve been some kind of special occasion, then, huh?” 

“It sure was.” 

These little moments kept seeming to catch them. A flirty comment, then silence. But, God, it was the loudest silence Aaron had ever heard. Not only were they in a room jam packed with belting teens, but the music filled any open space that was left. The one thing that remained peaceful? Him and Haley. Tucked into the far side of the gym, they were living in their own small world that consisted of a round table with fold out chairs circling it. Maybe it wasn’t the most glamorous situation in the world, but as long as they were together, they didn’t care. They lived encased in each other's hands, minds, and gaze. And not Haley nor Aaron ever wanted to leave this personal paradise they’d created. Just their date’s presence grounded them, took them away from the chaos of the night. Nobody could break that calm. 

Well, maybe one person could. 

“Hey, lovebirds, what’s going on?” Dave walked over, shaking his shoulders as he asked. 

The first to leave the trance, Hotch answered, “Lovebirds? Really?” 

“It’s cute.” 

“Is it? And where’s Hayden?” 

“Out on the floor, dancing with her friends. I was with them until now.” 

“Wow. _ The  _ David Rossi dancing? I would’ve loved to have seen that.” 

“I’m glad you didn’t. I wanted as few witnesses as possible.” 

Haley chimed in, “Wait. I love this song!” Hotch met her eyes, and he immediately understood that he should go out and dance with her, even if it wasn’t a slow dance. He’d get his chance to do that. For now, he’d be alright with anything Haley decided. 

“Well then, let’s go!” Aaron stood up, her quickly joining him. Dave watched as the pair headed to the floor, Haley beginning to sing along to whatever Taylor Swift song had just come on, he chuckled to himself. It was clear to anyone on the outside of their little world that the two were smitten. He was happy for Hotch. No girl had ever made him act so stupid before. He was a gentleman, always chivalrous and kind, and he indulged in the previous girls’ interests. That was, of course, when they were interested in going to the movies, or playing mini golf. Not if they wanted to jump around in the gym to “We Are Never Getting Back Together”. But there Hotch was, dancing like an idiot, and he didn’t care, because making Haley happy made him happy. No other girl made him feel that way, and that was obvious. He took her hand and twirled her around, dancing as if it were a fancy ball, despite the breakup song in the background. When the song began to fade, and their dancing slowed down, they pulled away laughing, overjoyed by their own silly antics. There was a moment of silence, between the songs, as the mood switched from one of jokes and laughed into holding and loving. The music started up again, and it was recognized by Dave as _When I Fall In Love_ by Nat King Cole. He let out a sigh, taking in the new calm of the night, before rising from his seat to find Hayden. Even if he didn’t enjoy dancing, he owed her a slow one. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Taking a deep breath, Aaron realized the time was now. 

And as if it was for the first time, he reached his hand out to her, “May I have this dance?” 

“Of course,” she replied softly, taking his hand and melting into his embrace. Although it started off as more of a hug, their arms shifted into a dancing position. Her arms slid up to his neck, which they remained draped around as she held her own hand behind him. His hands were placed on her hips, and he dragged his thumb over the fabric of her dress, trying to initiate more physical contact. She seemed to notice, and moved her body closer into his. Within the first half of the song, they were swaying back and forth with her head resting in the crook of his neck. All his nerves about his inability to dance had faded away once he realized the simplicity of it all. Maybe it wasn’t a super interesting or special dance, but it was perfect to him. As long as she was in his arms, he’d do any dance known to man. 

Meanwhile, she was feeling the same emotions, but also taking in the little things about him. Surprisingly, you can learn a lot about a person while resting your head on their shoulder. The first thing she noticed was that his breath smelled like Listerine. Without letting her mind wander too much, she wondered if she’d get to kiss him again tonight. It was all she could’ve asked for and more the last time, and she couldn’t wait to experience it again. The other thing she noticed was the scent of his aftershave. Somehow, it made him more attractive to her, picturing him with some stubble, or even better, him in the morning with half his face covered in fluffy white shaving cream. Him concentrating all his attention into getting a clean shave but also not nicking his cheeks. She lived for the domesticity of things like that, imagining him shaving, giving her a kiss, and then heading out the door in a freshly ironed suit. A future with him sounded so unreal, yet also so possible. She hoped to God she’d get to experience it. The final thing she noticed about him was the cologne that was showered onto his clothes. She couldn’t quite place the scent, after all she’d never used cologne, but it seemed to smell like nutmeg. Whatever it was, she liked it. She also liked that Aaron had gone through a clear effort to look good for her (she doubted, though, that he could look bad in her eyes). The things she did for him, both on purpose and inadvertently, made her feel like she was flying. His romantic homecoming ask, the compliments, and the dancing all made her feel great. But what she loved in a completely different way was the accidental things. It’s what shows her he truly feels the same way, even if he’s trying not to make that completely obvious. When Aaron strokes her hand with his thumb and he doesn’t even realize, she can tell he wants so much more than just a date to homecoming. Or when he asked before kissing her, to maintain the mutual respect in their relationship. But what showed her the most was the one she didn’t understand: how he let her call him Aaron. She hadn’t realized it until tonight: both Dave and Hayden called him Hotch. So did everyone at theatre, although she hadn’t really noticed it until today, since they weren’t together a lot there. Though she might not understand for a while, or maybe ever, she knew that had to mean something about their relationship. Whether it be good or bad, she was willing to see it through, as long as she was with him

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Emily and Derek sat together on the bleachers, slouched over with their elbows on their knees and hands on their cheeks. A slow dance played through the massive speakers in the gym as the sea of couples swayed together, leaving the other teens to mope on their own. 

She dropped one hand and turned to him, “Man, I should’ve gotten a real date.” 

“I second that. But it’s not like either of us could’ve, at least without pretending to be straight. Unless you’re planning on coming out?” 

“Nope. I did officially tell Penelope, though,” she gave him a light smile. 

“That’s great, when’d you tell her?” 

“Remember when me and her got our dresses? I told her on the way home. She took it really well.” 

He smiled back at her, “Awesome. I’m really happy for you, Em.” 

“I’m happy, too. I think I worried too much. I can’t believe I assumed she’d be anything but supportive.” 

“Don’t be too hard on yourself. It’s a stressful thing to do sometimes, but since it went well, focus more on the good. You can tell her about all the hot dates you go on.” 

Emily laughed, “Yeah, right. I barely know any other gay girls, let alone ones I want to date.” 

“I have the same issue. Not that I’m really pushing to get in a relationship right now, but I wouldn’t be against it. I’m definitely a little jealous of all these happy people tonight,” he gestured to the crowd. 

“I’d like to have a girlfriend. I think it all depends on when I find the right one, you know?” 

“Yeah.” 

Emily scanned the crowd for familiar faces. The first she noticed was Dave dancing with Hayden Montgomery. They had a reasonable distance between them, clearly not infatuated with each other, but both seemed to be enjoying themselves. A little farther over, she spotted Hotch. Some girl she didn’t recognize was tangled up in his arms, head rested on his shoulder. His eyes were closed as he savoured the romantic moment. She felt a pang of jealousy in her heart at their mutual happiness and love. Emily had never experienced a love like that, let alone a love at all. Though she was an often adventurous and risk-taking person, the one chance she’d never taken was trying to kiss someone. Most people would assume she’d gone all the way, as Dave has, but the only times she’s kissed people were in silly party games. At some of the parties she’s been to, people thought it would be fun to play ‘Spin the Bottle’, and she’s ended up pecking a couple guys and even a girl. But she doesn’t count them as her first kiss. To her, a real first kiss is with someone you truly care about, something special. Not a peck that lasts half a second with some guy you’ve barely talked to. She doesn’t mind that she’s inexperienced, compared to her friends, but she was still scared to take that leap with someone. Right now, watching Hotch and his mystery woman dance, she wished she had someone to kiss, maybe to feel only an inkling of what they felt. Emily didn’t consider herself a very romantic person, but right now her heart ached for someone to hold. 

In an attempt to distract herself from yearning, she tried not to look at the couple. Another pair quickly caught her eye. She’d seen them both around before, but was unsure of where. He was tall, maybe about 6 foot, and had his hair slicked back. He looked pretty cute, not that it really mattered to her. The girl, on the other hand, was stunning. She had long straight blonde hair that looked like it came right out of a shampoo commercial. As she rocked back and forth with the boy, her hair shook in light waves, and every once in a while she’d run her hand through it, pushing it out of her face. Emily could tell, even from across the room, that the girl must’ve had the softest hair in the world. Her eyes trailed down her hair onto her dress, her body. She wore a pink dress, like Penelope, but hers had an entirely different feel to it. It was a blushing pink, one that most likely matched the color of Emily’s cheeks. This was probably the prettiest girl she’d ever seen in her entire life. She had doe eyes, ones that the brunette was sure she’d want to get lost in. But, despite that innocent look, Emily had a strange feeling that this doe-eyed girl might have some skeletons in the closet. Her mind was moving a million miles a minute, gazing at this girl, trying to figure out who she was.  _ Speaking of figures _ , as Emily looked at this girl, she couldn’t help but notice how toned her muscles were. Maybe she was just athletically inclined, but for someone to have abs during the school year, she had to play some kind of sport. Emily thought through the possibilities: basketball, track, soccer…  _ wait _ .  _ That’s it! _ she thought. Finally, she remembered where she recognized this girl from. Last year she got dragged to one of the girl’s soccer games by her friends, for something about having more school spirit. She couldn’t remember her name, but she realized this was the best player on the soccer team. She made varsity her freshman year, and Emily saw her play in one of their games. She couldn’t believe she’d forgotten a face like hers. 

Without thinking, Emily spoke, “We should go to one of the girl’s soccer games again.” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I wonder if people think we’re dating,” JJ laughed, her hands pulling off Spencer’s shoulders as the song came to an end. 

“They probably do. Or at least that we’re interested in each other.” 

“Little do they know…” 

He laughed, sitting down at a table with her following shortly, “Are you going to the party Haley invited us to?” 

“Yeah, why not?” she shrugged, “You?” 

“I will since you are. I just don’t really know what I’m supposed to do there.” 

“You can stay with me, Spence. I’m not gonna leave you alone at some guy’s house.” 

“Actually, he’s not ‘some guy’. It’s David Rossi. He’s in my grade, and a known troublemaker, partier, and womanizer.” 

“Then nevermind,” JJ smiled. 

“But who knows,” he continued, “maybe by immersing ourselves new crowds we’ll find some romantic conquests.” 

“Ha. As if.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The lock on the faculty bathroom clicked almost right after Kevin made it through the door. Even in the dim light that barely shone through the window, he could see Penelope in her bright pink dress. 

“Looks like we finally have some privacy.” 

“Yeah,” she replied softly, just above a whisper. 

They soaked in each other's presence for only a few silent seconds before they crashed into their date. Not a second was to waste. Hands touched what they could find in the darkness. Tongues waltzed around each other. They were magnets that had been held apart for far too long, and they’d finally met. A field of energy surrounded them, one of passion, heat, and feelings hidden for too long. Pressed against the faculty bathroom door, Penelope could hear footsteps approaching. Whether it be a student or a teacher, she didn’t care. This is what she’d been waiting for. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and the jemily slow burn has finally started! meanwhile hotch and haley are already in the honeymoon phase and they haven't started dating. also, some hot n heavy Penelope/Kevin stuff at the end there! and probably also in the next chapter (speaking of, Rossi's rager coming up!) hope you enjoyed, Tumblr is @ prentizz :)


	6. fallingforyou

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rossi throws his big homecoming party! and believe it or not we get some interesting couple action this chapter

Stepping out of Emily’s car, Derek’s jaw dropped. David Rossi’s house was overflowing with teenagers and the bass of the music. 

“Jesus. How many people did he invite?” 

The girl turned to him and laughed, “Believe me: to Dave, it’s not a party unless there’s people on top of you. And, of course, there has to be alcohol and lots of it.” 

“Well I figured that part. He’s friends with you.”

“Say what you want. But if you think I’m bad, just wait til you see him. That man drinks like the world’s ending tomorrow.” 

“We’ll see about that,” he smirked, opening the door and heading inside. He didn’t, however, make it that far. Based on what Derek could see from the doorway, it seemed there were more teenagers at Dave’s party than the entirety of homecoming. He was surprised the house wasn’t bursting at its seams. Weaving his way through the other kids, he noted the various activities they were taking part in. The one thing everyone had in common? The red solo cup attached to their hand. Seeing as half the party was already drunk, and that Emily was already at the drink table, he knew he’d end up a babysitter by midnight. As Derek watched her fade into the crowd, he let out a sigh.  _ Hopefully Penelope shows up soon.  _ He spotted some of the football boys hanging out on the couch and figured he may as well mingle with them. Greeted by a chorus of drunken hellos, he realized this was going to be a long night if he was sober. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Driving to Dave’s party, both Kevin and Penelope were both clearly prepared to finish what they’d started at Homecoming. Though their lips hadn’t made it further than each other’s necks, their hands were another story. And right now, his were clutching the steering wheel as tight as possible, frustrated that traffic wouldn’t move any faster. She avoided his eyes, afraid that if she met them she wouldn’t be able to contain herself. So they both focused on the road ahead, eyes trained on the yellow lines down the center of it. Not a sound came from within the car besides a frustrated sigh when they met a red light. After what felt like years, they finally reached the music blaring from Dave’s house. Kevin parked on the opposite side of the street from it. He turned off the car and they sat for a few silent seconds, both unsure of where the night would lead. Penelope bit the bullet and tore her eyes away from the windshield, meeting her date’s eyes. The car was completely still, spare their rapidly moving chests. The night’s fate was decided rather quickly by this small interaction. In these few short seconds, their bodies made the choice for them. Seatbelts were quickly forgotten and Penelope’s seat slid back as far and low as it could go. He all but threw himself on top of her and for the second time that night, lips met lips. His hands slid into her hair and pushed it out of her face. Their hands followed similar trails that they had in the bathroom but this time without interruption. They explored new territory on each other, hands slipping under clothes with tongues following shortly after. Kevin and Penelope’s previously pristine outfits were discarded in the heat of the night, left behind to collect dust. Skin that had never met touched for the first time. The windows lost their clarity. Her makeup got smudged and her lipstick was lost on his body, but she didn’t want it back.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Emily hadn’t intended to leave Derek behind like that. The trouble was, she’d caught a glimpse of that soccer girl. She desperately wanted to talk to her. Even if she was straight, it’d be a privilege to do so. And though she felt bad about abandoning her friend, she knew he could handle himself and wouldn’t hold it against her if he knew why. So here she was, shoving her way through the crowd of people trying to reach this model-material girl. Emily, after making her way to the other side of the room, stood up on her toes, trying to find the girl again. A glint of blonde hair caught her eye about 10 feet away, and she pushed around to create a path to it. Finally, right before her very eyes was the girl of her dreams. The brunette was practically drooling despite only looking at the back of her head. God, she wanted to run her hands through that blonde hair.  _ Or pull it,  _ she thought, mind wandering for a second before she remembered she did  _ not _ seek out this girl to have a sexual fantasy about her. Deciding to form a coherent thought, she opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by a familiar face. 

“Are you getting something to drink?” 

The girl looked up from the table piled with alcohol, “Yeah, just a white claw. Don’t worry, Spence, I’m not gonna become a drunken mess on you.” 

“I don’t care if you do, but we both know who would.” 

“Yeah,” she laughed slightly, “and it’s not like I could spend the night either because they’d just assume we’re having sex.” The pair walked away, his response wafting into the night.

Just like that, Emily decided to become a drunken mess. It wasn’t that she was upset about this soccer girl, because she definitely would’ve gone buckwild anyways. But they hadn’t even been able to talk, and she wanted to forget about getting her hopes up for nothing. Emily was tired of falling for people who didn’t feel the same and finding out this girl was straight hurt her. Never before had she given up her heart so quickly, but she had a strange feeling towards the soccer girl. And apparently this feeling was simply Emily getting tricked by her own mind. Remembering her date, this lanky brown haired boy, it showed her that she never had a chance in the first place. He was what she wasn’t, and Emily had to accept that.  _ The best ones are always straight,  _ she sighed. Pouring enough alcohol to get a body builder drunk, she wondered when it would be her turn to be someone’s dream woman. She wished a girl would see her from across the room and wonder what her lips felt like. But, of course, Emily remained hidden in the shadows to any attractive girls. So she turned to drinking, for tonight. And though she’d feel worse in the morning than she did now, she didn’t care.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The party eventually became too much for Derek. Maybe it was losing Emily, or the fact that Penelope never showed up. Or maybe it was the party full of teens nearly forcing the alcohol down his throat. Regardless, he knew he needed a breather. Though he may have preferred to leave the party as a whole, he knew Emily would most likely be too drunk to find her way home. So he opted for upstairs, hoping to find a room that  _ wasn’t  _ occupied by a couple trying to get it on. As the boy made his way up the stairs, he started leaving the chaos of the night behind. The music lowered and he was finally provided some personal space. At the top, he was met by a hallway with multiple doorways, one left open that led to a bathroom. Derek figured the room next to it was a safe bet for somewhere to sit, so he put his ear to the door to check if it was empty. He was met by silence that was shortly broken by the knob being turned, him slipping inside, and then the door shutting once again. Facing the entrance, he clicked the lock to assure he’d be able to have some peace, and let out a sigh. However, as he turned to find a seat, he stopped suddenly in his tracks, quickly realizing he wasn’t alone. A younger boy sat on the floor criss-cross applesauce, leaning against the side of the bed with a book open on his lap. 

“Oh, sorry. I thought this room was empty,” Derek reached for the doorknob again, ready to leave.

“Wait- it’s,” the younger boy reached a hand out to stop him, “it’s fine. You can stay,” he smiled at him. 

Derek really liked that smile. It was a little lopsided, sort of frog-looking grin without teeth. But it was cute. It reminded him of how little kids tend to smile: as wide as possible, and so silly looking at times that they can only carry a sense of innocence and pure happiness. So, just for that goofy smile, Derek took his hand away from the door and turned to fully face the boy. 

“I’m Derek Morgan,” he said, reaching out to shake his hand. 

The boy started to recoil slightly, “I uh.. I don’t shake hands, sorry.” Though he would’ve normally been offended or weirded out, as Derek lowered his hand, he found the quirky boy intriguing. Mostly because he seemed genuinely sorry about not accepting the hand shake. 

“That’s okay,” he reassured him, “What’s your name?” 

“I’m Spencer Reid.” 

“You mind if I sit here?”

“No,” Spencer seemed to be staring intently at his face, almost examining it, “not at all.” 

Plopping down onto the carpet next to him, Derek was finally able to see his full face under the dim lighting of the room. His hair was slicked back and it appeared like he’d made it perfect, as it was relatively untouched by the energy of the night. Spencer’s face was a similar story. Though a minute ago he wore a wide smile, his lips were now relaxed along with the rest of his face. He had deep, defined cheekbones that reminded Derek of a model. Underneath his (plucked?) eyebrows were greenish hazel eyes that stared directly back into the other boy’s. 

“So, how come you don’t shake hands?” 

“It’s disgusting,” he laughed, “Did you know it’s actually safer to kiss?” 

“Is that so?” 

“Yeah. Similarly, there’s more bacteria on your phone than on a toilet handle. Which is another thing I won’t touch.” 

“Well I’ll keep all those things in mind, then,” Derek laughed, “so do you think when I meet people I should start making out with them?” 

“I suppose that depends on who you’re meeting, but it’s probably better to stick with a wave.” 

Derek exaggeratedly sighed, “Guess I’ve lost my chance with you, then.” 

Spencer’s eyebrows furrowed for a second before he looked at the other boy in disbelief, “What?” 

“I’m only kidding,” he laughed.

“Oh,” the goofy smile returned to his face. 

“Did you really bring a book to a party?” 

“No, I found it on the shelf. I just got bored down there after I lost my friend.” 

“So you got separated and decided to steal a random book,” Derek frowned and glanced at the book before his eyes widened as he noticed how much the other boy had read, “How long ago did you come up here? You’re nearly finished!” 

“Oh, only a few minutes. I read at 20,000 words per minute,” Spencer pursed his lips. 

The taller boy’s jaw dropped, “ _ 20,000?  _ Jesus Christ, man. Are you some kind of genius?” 

“Technically speaking, yes.” 

“Damn. What grade are you in, anyway?” 

“I’m a senior, but I skipped 7th and 8th grade, so I’m only 16.” 

“Hm. I’m a Junior. 17.” 

“You play a sport, I’m guessing?” Spencer gestured to his body. 

“Yeah,” he laughed, “Football. Just like my Pops.” 

“Oh,” the smaller boy seemed to pull back into himself. 

“What?” Derek immediately moved forward, concerned, only to be met by a Spencer who continued recoiling, “Are you okay?” 

“It’s nothing,” he mumbled.

“No it’s not,” the football player went to put a hand on his shoulder before returning it, remembering the other boy’s issue with germs, “You can tell me.” 

“It’s just that… You’re not gonna be a jerk as soon as we’re with other people, right? Because I’m starting to like you.” 

“Dude, what? Why would I do that?” 

He shrugged, “I don’t know. Some of the boys from your team are like that, and as soon as they’re together they harp on me” 

“Well, I’m not gonna. Haven’t even thought about it. But I will give anyone who’s mean to you a mouthful.” 

“It’s fine, it doesn’t really happen anymore.” 

“How about, just to be safe, I get your number?” 

Spencer’s mouth hung open slightly, as he tried to figure out if Derek wanted it for different reasons. Most of the guys on the football team were straight, he assumed. But on the other hand, he’d previously assumed they were all assholes as well. Derek was different. His body language showed he really did care. But why would some guy he  _ just  _ met want his number unless he had ulterior motives? Or did he really just want to stop Spencer from getting made fun of? Though he had an inkling, Spencer truly couldn’t tell whether or not this guy was into him. He never understood this ‘gaydar’ stuff.

Maybe just due to his own wishful thinking, Spencer unlocked his phone and opened up the ‘contacts’ app. Handing it over to Derek, he smiled, “If you insist.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

God, Emily felt awful. The mix of yearning for this (straight) girl and a hangover beginning created hell on earth for her. She crawled up the stairs and sat in the upstairs bathroom, desperately trying to escape the pounding music. Leaning against the sink on the floor, door wide open, she prayed to god Derek would find her and take her home. But, alas, she sat there waiting for what felt like weeks. Though she felt like crying, she knew that would only make her headache worse. She left her head buried between her knees, and didn’t lift it up until she heard someone ascending the stairs. Poking her eyes out, Emily looked to see if her savior had finally arrived. Straining her eyes, she realized the unfortunate truth. Not only was it  _ not  _ her friend, but the person who’d just arrived (and who was now staring at her) was the soccer girl.  _ Oh, shit.  _

“Hey, are you okay?” the blonde kneeled down next to her, eyebrows laced with concern. 

“I’m fine,” Emily waved her hand sloppily. 

“Really?” the girl laughed, “Because, no offense, but you don't look it.” 

“Gee, do you know how to make a girl feel good about herself.” 

“I’m only kidding, I can tell you’re gorgeous underneath that running mascara,” the blonde started to wet a rag under the tap.

“Oh, okay,  _ barbie doll. _ ” 

The so-called barbie laughed again, “How am I a barbie doll?” 

“Look at you! You’re perfect! And-,” she made a face as the rag was carefully rubbed under her right eye by the other girl, “and you have that long, soft, blonde hair. And that stick-man of a boyfriend. And your body- I don’t know where to start.” 

“Stick man?” the girl looked confused for a moment, “Oh, Spencer! He’s not my boyfriend! I mean, he’s gay.” 

Emily looked up at her, the solemn look on her face fading, “Do you think there’s anything wrong with that?” 

“No, not at all,” she continued wiping off the brunette’s makeup, “So, what’s wrong? I can tell this is more than a hangover.” 

“Well, first of all, I’ve got a pretty girl’s hand on my face and we’re not even kissing. Second, I do not know where my friend is,” Emily pouted. 

“Who’s your friend?” 

“Derek Morgan. Big. Kind of an asshole.” 

“I think I know him. Does he play football?” 

“Yes.” 

“Alright, I can find him for you. Are you gonna be okay alone?” 

“Yeah.” 

“Okay, stay here,” the blonde rubbed her thumb on Emily’s cheek before dropping the rag into the sink. The brunette gazed up at her, losing what was left of her mind at the simple gesture. Just as she started to lose consciousness, a voice pulled her back. 

“Well, well, well. Look at what we have here,” Derek chuckled at his hammered friend, “Come on, let’s get you home.” He leaned down and scooped her up into his arms. “Thanks for finding me,” the boy smiled at the blonde. 

“No problem. I just hope she’s okay in the morning,” they both laughed. “Oh, she won’t be. But maybe she’ll learn her lesson.” 

“Somehow, I doubt that.” 

“Yeah, me too. And hey, it’s JJ, right?” 

“Yup.” 

“Well thanks again, JJ. And Spencer,” he spoke up to the boy standing a couple feet behind her, “it was nice talking to you.” 

“You as well,” Spencer showed his goofy smile. Derek nodded at the two of them before heading down the stairs, an already asleep Emily in his arms. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He didn’t know if it was the beer or the night’s energy talking, but all Aaron wanted right now was some alone time with Haley. He wasn’t going to make her leave or anything; as long as she was happy, he was. But he was getting tired, he’d had his share of beers for the night, and truly didn’t have the energy for anything unless it involved her. 

Setting down her cup, she left her conversation and came to him, “ Hey, how much longer are you gonna stay?” 

“I’m pretty much done, you?” 

“Same.” 

“Well why don’t we go, then. I’ll walk you home,” he smiled. 

“Are you kidding? It’s like a mile from here!” 

“Then we’d better get going,” his hand reached out to hers. 

Taking it, she followed him out the door, “Are we seriously gonna walk the whole way there?” 

“Why not? It’s gonna be fun. We can  _ bond. _ ” 

She chuckled, “Alright, if you say so. What are we going to bond over, then?” 

“Well, when I asked you to homecoming, we watched the sunset. Now, we can look at the stars.”

“That’s gonna be kind of hard to do if we’re walking.” 

“When we get to your house we can.” 

“Okay,” Haley replied, squeezing his hand, “So, did you like the party?” 

“Yeah. I’m not huge on parties but I had a nice time, especially since you were there. What about you?” 

She silently thanked the darkness of the night for hiding her blush and responded, “It was fun. Dave sure knows how to throw a party.” 

“That he does. I bet if he spent half as much time on schoolwork as he does drinking or smoking he’d have made it into Harvard.” 

The girl chuckled, “Come on, he’s not  _ that  _ bad. A little teenage rebellion never hurts.” 

“Oh, really? Are you having some big rebellious phase?” Aaron returned her laugh. 

“You never know. Maybe I’ll start sneaking out or something.” 

“I’d like to see you try.” 

“Sounds like a challenge.” 

“Don’t actually do it. I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to you.” 

“Nothing will. But just to be safe, I won’t go out walking somewhere at midnight.” 

“Thank you.” 

“You do realize that’s exactly what we’re doing right now, though, right?” 

“Technically, yeah. But I feel better that we’re together instead of you out here all alone,” he gripped her hand tighter. 

“Me too. I wouldn’t want anyone else to walk me home in the middle of the night.” 

“It’s my pleasure. Especially since I get to spend some more time with you,” a blush painted both their cheeks. 

“You don’t need an excuse, you know. I mean I’m glad you’re walking me home but we can just hang out, if you’d like.” 

“Do you have something in mind?” 

“I don’t know, dinner, a movie. Anything works.” 

“Hmm. Okay. I’ll plan something. Are you free Friday night after practice?” 

“Yeah,” she bit her lip. 

“Then it’s a date,” Aaron smiled at her. She squeezed his hand in response, but he released it to put his arm around her shoulder. Haley rested her head on him for the second time that night, and it was just as nice as she remembered. Though there was now a faint smell of alcohol on his clothes and his breath, she could still find his familiar nutmeg scent. Wondering if she’d ever find out what cologne he used, she was pulled out of her thoughts by his voice. 

“You wanna lay down on the grass?” 

Lifting her head up, she realized they’d made it to the sidewalk in front of her house, “Sure.” 

He sat down in the freshly cut grass and as she laid down next to him he placed an arm beneath her. With her head on his arm, and his on the grass, the pair gazed up at the sky. Small white dots were splattered across it, shining especially bright on the clear evening. 

“It’s beautiful,” she whispered, afraid that being too loud would break the tranquility of the night. She turned to face Aaron, him having the same idea. They shared a moment with their faces mere inches away. 

“So are you,” he replied, barely making a sound. The world seemed frozen besides their chests rising and falling. All of a sudden, nothing mattered except for the two of them. The couple sat up together as he pulled her face into his, hands on the back of her head. Finally, after all their waiting, they got to share another kiss. The stars remained twinkling above them, as all their pent up feelings for each other were released onto the other’s lips. They told stories on each other, stories of waiting, wishing, and hoping. Haley gripped the back of his shirt as if he was going to disappear suddenly. She never wanted to leave this moment as she finally felt the freedom of a relationship. No more did she have to hide her longing for Aaron, because Haley had what she wanted. She found the Listerine behind the beer in his kiss. She saw how much he cared. All she needed to do was make sure he knew that she cared, too, more than he would ever see.

“I think I’m falling for you,” he spoke against her lips, ‘Fallingforyou’ by The 1975 playing inside his head. 

“So am I,” she pulled his body into a strong embrace, “I wouldn’t want it to be anyone else.” 

“Me neither.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as always, hope you enjoyed! I don't love the ending but I hope y'all like it more than me lol. if u didn't notice I really wanted to work that song into this chapter. also I loved writing jemily aghhh I can't wait to write the really good stuff. Tumblr is @ prentizz :) !


	7. daddy issues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The teenaged BAU deals with the aftermath of Dave's party, both good and bad.  
> also- I made the playlist for this fic public! link is:  
> https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5kZjrdCh6kQyNFqd700UNW?si=jISf3sb8S9aOqq9i2J4QeQ

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! two quick notes for this chapter: 1- there is graphic abuse in the second section, and I put a note before it happens so you can feel free to skip over it. 2- there's some Italian in the first section, and per the vote on one of my posts the translations are in brackets after it's said.  
> Enjoy!

This was the worst hangover Dave had ever felt. And not because of how drunk he’d been the night before, but because he’d forgotten how early his parents would be home. He tumbled off the couch at about 12 pm and hid away what was left of the drinks, but it was too little too late. An hour later, Elena and Anthony Rossi strolled into their home just to be greeted with a sea of red solo cups scattered on their floor, along with a completely trashed house. As soon as they realized what happened, Dave was sat down at the island to be chewed out for such reckless behavior. While Elena (ever the pitiful mother) began to help clean, Anthony paced the center of the room, trying to figure out what to do with their son. 

He yelled, “Gesù Cristo, David, cosa hai fatto?” {Jesus Christ, David, what have you done?}

“Inglese, per favore, papà,” Dave’s brain was currently unable to process another language as it could barely handle english at the moment. {English, please, dad.}

“So you trash my house and now I’m doing favors for you? What is it, David, did you have too much fun? You have a headache now?” 

He glared at his father, “Yes to both. How’d you guess?” 

“You deserve one,” Anthony turned his attention to his wife, “Oh mio Dio, Elena! It’s his job to clean now. He trashes our home then he has to be the one to fix it,” he turned back to his son, “Pulisci. Ora.” {Oh my God, Elena!; Clean. Now.}

Dave huffed out a deep sigh before pulling himself off the bar stool and taking the partially filled trash bag from his mother’s hand, “Grazie.” {Thanks.}

She gave him a small smile before heading over to join his father in the kitchen. Elena almost never yelled at her son. It wasn’t that she approved of his rebellious behavior; it scared her to know that he did such reckless things. But Anthony had a tendency to be hard on him and she didn’t feel that Dave deserved two tough parents. He was the chief of police in their township, and having a son who enjoyed breaking the law angered him to no end. This anger came from a caring place, though. Anthony often dealt with kids who pushed it too far and went down the wrong path. If that happened to his son, he’d have no choice to blame himself. Of course, he didn’t know that it was this very strictness that led his son to rebel. 

Dave lazily picked up the cups and repositioned their furniture for about 2 hours before the house looked presentable again. Throughout the whole process, his parents were debating back and forth in italian, and while he could have understood them, he figured it was best to tune them out.

Once he took the trash out he plopped himself onto the couch, exhausted. Head still pounding, he closed his eyes in his best effort to relieve the pain. 

His father had different plans, “What are you doing here, Dave, relaxing?” 

“I hoped to,” the boy shrugged. 

“Look at you, snarky as ever. Give me your car keys.” 

“They’re on the hook by the door,” he sighed. 

“Bene. Now get out of here for a bit, I want to talk with you mother. Come back before 9.” {Good.}

“How am I supposed to go anywhere without my car?” 

“You walk,” Anthony said sternly, “I’ve had enough of you. Partire.” {Leave.}

As annoying it was to have to walk instead of drive, Dave would rather not be home now. He pulled out his phone and shot a text to Aaron,  _ You free? _ Sitting down on the curb, he turned down his phone’s brightness.

The response came in a few seconds:  _ Not now. Sorry.  _

Sighing, he moved onto Emily’s contact, hoping she might be able to pick him up. 

The girl responded immediately,  _ I’m w Derek and Penelope but ur free to join. They’re helping me fight my hangover. Wbu _

_ Same. My parents found out about the party so I lost my car. Can u get me? _

_ Ugh. Fine. Be there in 10.  _

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

TW: ABUSE (just this section. It stops after the next squiggly line.)

“I’m hungry,” Sean whined, his puppy-dog eyes out in full force. 

“I know, buddy,” his older brother answered, cutting the hot dog on the plate in front of him into small, bite sized sections. Bringing the plate to his little brother, he smiled, “Here you go.” 

As Sean grabbed at the hot dog pieces, Aaron responded to the buzzing coming from his phone. 

Dave texted him,  _ You free? _

Sighing, Aaron messaged him back,  _ Not now. Sorry.  _ He was too preoccupied with his younger brother to hangout with Dave. Looking up, he noticed his brother staring at him, “What, bud?” 

“Why are you purple?” 

He furrowed his eyebrows before remembering, “Don’t worry about it.”

Sean, with the attention span one would expect from a 2 year old, went back to his hot dog. But now that the older boy had been reminded of the mark on his face, he could only think about the night before… 

_ When Aaron arrived home, about 15 minutes after dropping off Haley, his face was still flushed red. The girl completely entranced him; every minute with her made him feel like he was on cloud nine. Clicking the lock shut, he tiptoed way from the doorway, ready to text her goodnight once he made it to his room. This plan was soiled nearly immediately. Aaron stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of his father waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs. He was drained of his previous pink hue, now as pale as a ghost.  _

_ Clearing his throat, he choked out all he could, “Dad.” _

_ In a cold, emotionless voice, his father responded “Aaron, welcome home. Do you know what time it is?”  _

_ “I’m so sorry, Dad. I completely lost track of time-”  _

_ “I said: do you know what time it is?” he spoke through gritted teeth.  _

_ “12:45,” the boy responded, trying to stay calm.  _

_ “Interesting. Aaron, do you know what it tells me when you waltz through my door past midnight?” he stood up.  _

_ “No.”  _

_ “It tells me that you don’t respect me. After everything I do for you, you don’t respect me.”  _

_ Jaw trembling, his son answered in a small voice, “I do.”  _

_ “You can’t even say it,” he grabbed his son by the collar of his shirt, lifting him slightly, “I provide all this for you,” he looked around the room, “and you still don’t respect me.”  _

_ Barely able to breathe, Aaron failed to respond.  _

_ “I deserve a better son than you,” Charles released his grip on his son’s collar, shoving him to the ground, “You’re pathetic.”  _

_ The boy landed on his back, the wind getting knocked out of him as he slammed into the hardwood floor. Aaron gasped, trying to catch his breath.  _

_ “Look at you, on the floor. You’re just a boy. Who do you think you are, coming home this late? Do you think you’re the man of the house all of a sudden?”  _

_ The boy shook his head.  _

_ “Get up.” Aaron grabbed the side of the coffee table to hoist himself up. “Look at me,” Charles grabbed him by the chin, lifting Aaron’s face to meet his stare. Just as he opened his mouth to continue, he stopped. Taking a deep inhale through his nose, his eyes widened, “Have you been fucking drinking?”  _

_ Aaron shrunk into himself, realizing how badly he’d messed up. He gulped, “Barely, dad. It was only a few sips.” _

_ “How could you be so ungrateful?” he growled, striking his hand across the boy’s cheek as he let go of his chin. The force and surprise of it sent his son to the ground once more.  _

_ Aaron lifted his own hand to the burning welt on the left side of his face. Eyes glazed with tears, he looked up at his father, “I’m sorry.”  _

_ “You should be,” he brought his right leg back and kicked the boy in his stomach.  _

_ The boy clenched his teeth, trying to avoid scaring Sean, but couldn’t prevent letting out a screech. _

_ “Stay in your place,” he ordered. Aaron curled up on the floor, a pool of tears forming next to him, as his father went up the stairs like nothing had happened. He lay there for over an hour, trying to find the strength to get up. Emotionally and physically drained, Aaron relied on the banister to hold him. He clicked his door shut as quietly as possible and tore off his button down and tie with tears staining his face. Aaron fell onto his bed, ignoring the way his abdomen seared with pain. The house was completely silent other than his sniffling. He was grateful that his father had been so lenient with his punishment, knowing Chales could’ve kicked him much harder. No matter what, Aaron would’ve held back his screams. His worst fear was Sean coming out when their father was in one of his moods. Aaron could handle the pain so long as Sean didn’t have to.  _

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Wow.”

“I know right? I don’t know what I did to deserve a guy like that, but I’m not complaining.” Haley had just finished recapping JJ on her particularly romantic night with Aaron. 

“It’s so weird to imagine Hotch acting like that. Granted, I haven’t spoken to him since we were like 11, but it’s still weird.” 

“I couldn’t imagine him any other way,” Haley responded, clearly falling hard for the boy. “

Ugh. You’re all lovesick now.” 

“You’re just jealous,” she teased. 

“I wish you were wrong. Unfortunately, Spencer and I don’t have the same spark that you and Hotch have,” the girls laughed, “actually, that reminds me.” 

“What?” 

“Spencer was with a guy last night!” Haley’s jaw dropped, “No way.” 

“Yup. Nothing happened though, unfortunately. But you should’ve seen the way Spence was looking at him.” 

“Who was it?” 

“Derek Morgan. Apparently they were just talking, but Spencer, at least, wanted more. It was so obvious. I don’t know where Derek stands, though.” 

“Wow. Good for them!” 

“Yeah,” JJ smiled. She wondered if Haley would be as supportive of her toying with being gay. 

“So what about you, anything happen at the party?” 

“Nothing particularly sexy,” she chuckled, “unless helping out a drunk girl counts.” 

“I don’t think it does. Who was she, anyways?” 

“I never caught her name. All I know is that she’s friends with Derek and that she’s definitely super hungover right now.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The car pulling up in front of him brought Dave’s gaze upwards. Noticing it was Emily inside almost relieved his headache. “Took you long enough,” he smiled as he stepped into the vehicle. 

“Hey, you’re lucky I even picked you up.” 

“Where are the other two?” 

“Back at my house. They’re too loud. I’m not trapping myself in a car with them.” 

“Are they not hungover?” 

“Nope. Derek doesn’t drink and Penelope was too busy getting it on in a minivan.” 

He laughed at her straight-forwardness, “Ah. I appreciate the quiet. I have to say, it is very uncharacteristic of you to  _ not  _ blast any music.” 

“No way would I do that right now. I don’t think I’ve ever had a headache this bad in my life.” 

“I’m in the same boat,” he sighed, “ but at least you have the house to yourself. On top of the headache I had a middle aged man yelling at me for an hour.” 

“Gross.” 

“Yeah. He’ll get over it, though. He kicked me out for a couple hours so he could ‘talk with my mom’,” he made quotes with his fingers.

“Even more gross. At least you get to come over, though.” 

“Yeah, I’m not complaining.” 

“Me neither,” she offered him a small smile, “So, back at the house they’re attempting to create some bizarre hangover cure with broth, or whatever. Personally, having witnessed some of it being made, I’m going to pass. My cure of choice is laying in a dark room, but if you wanna take a chance on that drink be my guest.” 

“You know, it doesn’t sound too appealing,” the pair laughed as she parked the car and they stepped out. 

Reaching for the doorknob, Emily hesitated, “I wanna apologize in advance. These two can be a lot sometimes.” 

“I’m sure I can handle it,” the boy chuckled. 

In this state, neither of them could handle it. They were immediately greeted by the other two teens dancing around to Nelly’s ‘Hot in Herre’, which was blasting out of a speaker. At the same time, Derek was running a blender that was filled with some thick, green mixture that only added to the noise. 

The other two responded in the only way they could: covering their ears and yelling for them to stop. Once the dancers noticed, they made quick, panicked eye contact and stopped all the ruckus before Emily could kill them. Standing next to each other like two kids who were just caught doing something wrong, they talked over each other, apologizing profusely. 

Rubbing her temples, Emily sighed, “It’s fine, I’m just glad it’s over.” 

“I second that. Great dancing, though.” 

“So I’ve been told,” Penelope smiled, “Thanks for inviting us last night, by the way.” 

“Oh, it’s nothing. But from what I’ve heard, you didn’t spend much time inside,” Dave winked. 

Her jaw dropped and she turned to Emily, “You told him?!” 

The other girl’s face scrunched up in response to the loudness, “Noise. Loud. Stop. But yeah, I did, sorry,” she replied sheepishly. 

“It’s alright, I could never stay mad at you with that face. And if you trust him, I trust him,” Dave smiled at her and she narrowed her eyes at him, “for now.” 

He turned to Emily, “Should I be scared?” 

“Probably.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spencer sat on his bed cross legged with his phone in hand, the same way he had for the past 30 minutes. 

He’d been staring at Derek Morgan’s contact, trying to figure out what he could possibly say to that greek god of a man. The other boy was clearly a lot cooler and hotter than Spencer, and while usually he’d never take a chance on texting a guy like this, he had a good feeling about him. When the younger boy brought up his issues with germs, Derek respected them. And when he burst out random factoids Derek seemed genuinely interested. 

It was a strange experience for Spencer, and definitely not one he expected from a football player. The rest of his experiences with that team had been less than savory, to say the least. It was never anything too bad, but being a gay nerd who was 2 years younger than the rest of his grade, he got his fair share of name calling. It stung sometimes, but he’d become used to it at this point. He hadn’t even intended to come out to everyone, but in high school good news spreads fast. 

_ Wait. _ he realized,  _ Derek definitely knows I’m gay.  _

Even though they hadn’t met before that night at Dave’s house, Derek  _ had  _ to have heard about his sexuality. It was the talk of the school for a couple days the year before. And it was safe for Spencer to assume it was thrown into locker room chatter. The fact that Derek (most likely) knew he was gay and wanted his number was a good sign. Spencer ran through their conversation in his head:

_ “So do you think when I meet people I should start making out with them?”  _

_ “I suppose that depends on who you’re meeting, but it’s probably better to stick with a wave.”  _

_ “Guess I’ve lost my chance with you, then.”  _

Oh.

Derek was definitely trying to flirt with him. Spencer wondered how he could be so oblivious in the moment. Doing his best to return the other boy’s energy, he finally typed out his response. 

_ You haven’t lost your chance with me, by the way.  _

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Even though Dave had never formally hung out with Emily’s other friends before, an outsider would’ve never noticed it. The four of them were joking around in the Prentiss’ living room like old buddies, surrounded by half eaten bags of chips. They’d all been enjoying the others’ company for a few hours until Derek stepped away and the other three were left to their own devices. 

As soon as he saw the text from Spencer come through, he abandoned his friends to give the other boy his full attention. Derek was never one to believe in soulmates or anything like that, but he couldn’t explain how connected he felt to this boy considering they’d barely talked. 

Opening the message, he finally read it,  _ You haven’t lost your chance with me, by the way.  _

He couldn’t help but smile like an idiot at that text. Something about Spencer’s boyish charm made his heart melt. Unable to put his feelings into words, he opted for a call instead.

It took only a few moments for Spencer to pick up, “Hi.” 

“Hey, I just got your text.” 

“Oh. I didn’t make you uncomfortable, right?” 

“No, don’t worry. I’m actually really happy to hear that I’ve got a chance with you.” 

“I’m glad. How’s your friend feeling?” 

“She’s managing. I think she hates her past self, but, you know, managing.” 

“Do you think she learned her lesson?” 

“Oh, definitely not.”

Spencer chuckled, “Figures. I don’t get the appeal of drinking. There’s such high consequences for a temporary experience, one that often ends poorly anyways.” 

“Yeah, I don’t drink. Not for that reason, though. I just don’t wanna mess anything up with football.” 

“That makes sense. Very responsible of you.” 

“Thanks,” Derek smiled, “I’m glad I got to hear your voice again.” 

“You as well.” “Well, look, I’m at Emily’s house, and I can only leave for so long before someone comes looking for me. But do you think we could hang out sometime?” 

“Definitely.” 

“Alright, then. I’ll talk to you soon.” 

“Okay. Goodbye, Derek.” 

“Bye, Spencer.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Though Penelope was at first wary about David Rossi, he grew on her really quickly. She could already picture him hanging out with them all the time. The idea of their little family growing warmed her heart. For so long, it had just been her, Derek, and Emily. And although she loved them to death, she hoped Dave wouldn’t be the only new addition to their little group. She was a very social person, and ideally she had more than two close friends. Maybe now that Dave started to hang out with them she could rope in a few more of his buddies… 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed, and as always my Tumblr url is prentizz ! feel free to check me out there and tell me your thoughts/ questions or leave them in the comments! (PS- I don't plan on going on another hiatus and the next chapter should be out in a week-is!) <3

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked it! again, please check out my tumblr (prentiss-dinozzo) if you want updates/ to hear my rambles while writing


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